


Four Corners

by Stardrangea



Series: Four Corners [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, I write everyone as pan/bi, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Mention of Friends with Benefits, Multi, Not Beta Read, Polyamory, Slow Burn, love square, mainly Minghao-centric, there will be side couples, this will be a very very long story, wonhuigyuhao - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 54,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27690314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardrangea/pseuds/Stardrangea
Summary: Love is complicated-- it's unpredictable--and Minghao was stuck in the middle of it all. Falling in love was already hard enough. Falling for two people was even harder.(Or, the love square starts to fall in love in the slowest, messiest way possible.)
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu/Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Jeon Wonwoo/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Jeon Wonwoo/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Kim Mingyu/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Series: Four Corners [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2039969
Comments: 32
Kudos: 146





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this story back in Spring of 2019 so assume that it takes place around that time. This doesn't really effect anything asides from me using the old dorm setup and them being apart of solely Pledis.  
> I will update every Monday and most Thursday!

The room was dark, Minghao seeing everything in gray as he laid wide awake on his bed. His lower back throbbed, and he could feel it pulsing softly. Rolling over on his side, he stared at a peaceful looking Jun. Minghao smiled softly to himself as he brushed strands of hair away from the older male’s face. Jun stirred, muttering tiredly as he rolled away from Minghao’s touch. “Sorry, did I disturb you?” Minghao questioned as we wrapped his arms around Jun’s body, his bare chest pressed against his friend’s bare back.

“Why’re you awake?” he moaned. Chuckling, Minghao nuzzled against the crock between Jun’s shoulders.

“No reason, I’m just not tired,” he replied, ignoring his sore back.

“Well, I’m tired,” Jun muttered, his voice high and whiny.

“So cute,” the younger male smiled teasingly. “You are always acting younger than me,” he taunted. Suddenly Jun turned around, wrapping his arms around Minghao and squeezing him tightly.

“How can you call me younger when you’re so small compared to me?” he pouted. Minghao giggled as he closed his eyes.

“Bigger or not, you still act like a kid.” Jun scoffed as he pushed Minghao onto his back and sat on top of him, grabbing his arms and pinning him down to the bed.

“Am I a kid when I act like this?” he asked smugly. Minghao blushed from the sudden burst of energy from his previously sleeping friend. Jun stared at Minghao hungrily, a devilish smirk painted across his face. Leaning down, he placed a kiss against Minghao’s lips. Sweetly, he trailed more down his neck, reaching towards his chest. The younger male let out soft moans as he struggled under Jun’s weight. As the older one moved lower, Minghao thrashed around and stopped him.

“Cut it out. You had your fun already,” he lectured.

“You had fun too; don’t make it sound like I’m the only one getting something out of this,” he complained, falling down back to Minghao’s side. Without saying anything, he pulled the smaller man closer to him, entangling their bodies together as he rubbed circles along his lower back. “Are you in any pain?” he yawned, the tiredness from before returning in a moment’s notice. Minghao hummed softly in response before pulling away gently.

Leaning halfway off the bed, he picked up their clothes from the floor and tossed them to Jun. The two of them clothed themselves, Minghao still without his shirt. They didn’t speak another word as they cuddled up, Jun quickly falling back asleep. Minghao followed shortly after, but not before reflecting.

The two of them weren’t lovers; their immense love for one another never reaching a romantic point. It all started when they were younger, back in their trainee days. Due to the language barrier and being the last to join, Minghao often felt left out and even alienated at times from the rest of the group. Jun tried his hardest to include Minghao and even went out of his way to tutor his Korean, yet it wasn’t always enough.

One particular day, Jun found Minghao hiding, curled up and crying by himself. The older male hugged him tightly as he whispered words of empathy and solace. After a while, Jun raised his face, cupping his cheeks and wiping away as many tears as he could. As the two sat there, Jun holding him protectively in his arms, the urge to kiss him suddenly arose. Minghao was shocked by the unexpected action but did not shy away. He wrapped his arms around Jun and pulled him closer. From there, it was a common act for them to kiss as a show of comfort.

While all of the members were no stranger to physical affection or even kissing each other on the cheek or head, the two of them knew that what they were doing was different and possibly even wrong. Neither of them had ever had a romantic relationship and weren’t able to discern what their actions meant. As the years continued, the two slowly started to lose their innocence, their craving for another person stronger than their common sense. At first, it was to help Minghao escape from his own aguish. But eventually, he gained his confidence and his sense of belonging, yet they were still dependent on each other and the kind of relationship they had built.

Neither of them spoked about what it meant. After reaching an age where they could understand, they both preferred to stay quiet and stay oblivious. It was easier for them; at least it was supposed to be when feelings were out of the equation.

Once more, Minghao looked up at Jun’s sleeping face. Careful not to disturb him, he placed a light kiss on his lips and drifted off.

* * *

“Wonwoo,” Mingyu hummed as he sat on the edge of the bed in the common room.

“What do you need?” he asked in an annoyed tone, although most of it was for show. He was laying on his back, one arm under his head and the other holding his book above his face. Wonwoo had the curtains drawn all the way open, allowing natural light to blanket the living room.

“Hold me,” the younger one complained as he laid beside him. He wiggled around, purposefully bumping his large body against his member’s. Sighing, Wonwoo scooted up, rearranging his pillows against the headboard. Laying back down, he motioned for Mingyu to come closer. He patted his chest and Mingyu happily obliged, cuddling up against Wonwoo. Returning his attention back to his book, Wonwoo wrapped his arms around Mingyu. Every now and then he would pull him closer, giving him a light squeeze. Blissfully, Mingyu read along with Wonwoo, although unable to keep up with his fast pace.

The other members passed without a word, all of them used to public displays of affection. Mingyu dozed off but startled awake at the sound of a wolf whistle. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a grinning Vernon standing in the entrance. “Yah, Hansol,” Mingyu complained burring his face back into Wonwoo’s neck. “This isn’t even your dorm, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m here to spend time with Joshua-hyung,” he replied taking off his shoes and walking up to the bed. “You two seem to be comfortable though,” he added as he looked down at them.

“Honestly, my arm is asleep,” Wonwoo laughed, placing his book down. Mingyu apologized as he sat up, Wonwoo pushing himself up too.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin your moment. You can go back cuddling,” Vernon stated taking a step back and motion to the hallway. Quickly, Mingyu reached out and light slapped Vernon’s thigh. Vernon gave him a wide smirked before waving goodbye and going down the hall to Joshua’s room. Mingyu turned back to Wonwoo who was staring at him with steady eyes.

His heart raced and he turned away to stare at the ground between his legs. He told Vernon about his crush on Wonwoo during their last comeback. He knew he was bad at hiding his feelings and was always a little too eager when it came to Wonwoo. Vernon was suspicious during the Hip-Hop Unit’s photoshoot and confronted Mingyu who was quick to answer honestly. While he knew he could trust the younger male, he didn’t expect Vernon to tease him as much as he did.

Mingyu crush was a long lasting one; having been on and off since a little before their debut. He was sure that Wonwoo knew about his crush. He was smart and observant and Mingyu was in no way discrete about it. However, he was also confident that Wonwoo had felt the same for him. Although Wonwoo wasn’t the type to show off his feelings, his attitude towards him was different. Both of them never spoke the words out loud, which left Mingyu to wonder if he was coincided enough to imagine his crush liking him back.

Suddenly, Wonwoo pulled Mingyu backwards towards him, snapping Mingyu out of his thoughts. He wrapped his arms around Mingyu’s shoulders as he held him close. “You’re acting strange,” he said leaning his head against Mingyu.

“No I’m not,” he pouted starting to sway back and forth. It was quiet for a moment until Mingyu stopped and sat still.

“You should make us some ramen,” Wonwoo suggested.

“You just want me to cook for you,” Mingyu frowned. Wonwoo burst into laughter as he released Mingyu and nodded his head, patting his member on the back.

“I’m glad you understand,” he said motioning Mingyu towards the kitchen. Shaking his head, the younger male got up and followed his words. “I love you,” Wonwoo sang happily. Smiling to himself, Mingyu nodded.

“I know, love you too,” he replied, trying to sound sarcastic or at least to hide his joy. Wonwoo watched affectionately as Mingyu began to cook. He was a little too awkward and way too stubborn to ever say those words out loud without it sounding like a joke. But deep down, he truly did love Mingyu and he was confident that Mingyu loved him too; or at least he thought he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a side note, I know that most groups (Seventeen included) pre-write all of their songs well in advance and have a banks full of practically completed songs. I know nothing of music production, so please excuse my inaccuracies. Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

“Junhui-ge, have you ever been in love?” Minghao asked catching Jun’s attention with his name. The two of them were in Minghao’s room again. The younger male sat on the bed with his back against his open window. His head was off to the side as he glanced out into the distance. He had a notebook cradled in his lap with his knees propped up, writing potential lyrics for their upcoming comeback.

As much as Jun loved his roommates, it was hard for him to be comfortable on his top bunk. Most of the time he was either in his fellow Chinese member’s room or in the living room. He laid sprawled out beside Minghao, staring up at the ceiling. He contemplated the question given to him, humming out loud to himself as he thought.

“No, not in love. I’ve had crushes if that counts,” he replied cheerfully. “After moving here I didn’t have time for romance and anyone that I _did_ have an interest in, I left back at home,” he added on when Minghao didn’t say anything in return. Rolling over onto his stomach, Jun grabbed Minghao’s knee and began shaking him. “Why?” he questioned.

“No reason,” he answered quickly, turning to Jun and brushing his hand off.

“You’ve never had any romantic interest, right?” Minghao shook his head no. The older man smiled at that as he sat up in front of his friend. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to write a love song,” he giggled, a wide grin spread across his cheek, his white teeth showing off as he stared at an embarrass Minghao.

“As if, I have no interest in writing music like that,”

“Then why the question?” Jun mused laying his head on Minghao’s knees. The young male ran his fingers through Jun’s hair, slowly combing through it.

“I was just thinking about it.” Jun frowned and rolled his eyes.

“Do you really think I don’t know you that well?” he said, sounding offended. Minghao smiled and nodded his head.

“You’re right; you know me pretty well,” he said softly. “It’s not that I don’t have an interest in writing love songs, I just don’t have any experience with that sort of thing. _My I_ was based on a love story, but I turned it into someone talking to another version of themselves. Even when Ma Boqian and I sang _In My Feelings,_ I rearranged it to talk about myself because I couldn’t think of anyone I loved—” Minghao suddenly froze as he stared into Jun’s eyes. He could feel his breath quicken as his heart raced through his chest.

“I didn’t like those kinds of things because I didn’t understand it. It’s a little ignorant of me,” he finally continued, averting his eyes back to the outside world. “I’m narrow minded for writing off love songs and love stories because I can’t relate to them; don’t you think?” he asked as he turned back to a smiling Jun. His eyes were shinning with admiration and his lips were curled up in a gentle smile.

“Wow, you really are amazing Minghao-yah,” he said, as if his breath was taken away. Minghao smirked, pulling his hand out of Jun’s hair and flicking his forehead.

“I’ve always been amazing,” he joked. Jun shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, putting it back in place.

“I’m trying to be serious,” he whined, sitting up and grabbing Minghao’s hand. “Not everyone thinks like you. They think that just because they can’t relate then the thing is worthless; just because love doesn’t matter to them, suddenly love doesn’t matter at all. You know experience is valuable, but you also admit where you lack,” Jun praised. Flustered by his genuine words, Minghao looked down into his lap. “You’re amazing,” he repeated, tugging at Minghao’s hand.

“Ah, you’re too much,” he stated, faking annoyance as he pulled his hand back. “But thank you,” he quickly added, his small smile betraying his cool exterior. Giggling, Jun gleamed proudly.

“Anything for you,” his voice was playful, but his words held true. The room fell to a peaceful atmosphere, as Minghao slowly reached back for Jun’s hand. With their fingers intertwine, Minghao continued jotting down lyrics as Jun filled the silence with singing. Hours passed and Minghao’s thoughts caught up to him, distracting him from his work once again. With ease, Jun noticed his friend spacing out. “What’s wrong now?” he asked.

“Do you think you could fall in love if you just pretended to?” Minghao questioned in return. The older male frowned, his brows furrowing instinctually.

“Like if you lied to yourself, do you think it could become real?” he said.

“Kind of. It’s more like you act like your lovers when you’re not. Like you do the things lovers do, but without the emotional attachment,” he clarified. Realizing how close to their own situation that sounded, Minghao panicked. His body tensed and he unconsciously squeezed Jun’s hand. Luckily, Jun’s thoughts were straight forward and didn’t connect any dots.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “So far everyone that I liked I started liking them first. I have never done couple-like things before.” Somberly, he smiled at his own misfortune. No time for romance came with the job; he could barely see his family, how could he possible think about dating. “What about you? Do you think you could?” Shrugging, Minghao closed his notebook.

“I’ve never been in love,” he stated before getting up. He pulled Jun off of the bed with him and smiled. “We shouldn’t coop ourselves up in here; we should spend time with the others too,” he stated letting go of Jun and walking out. Bewildered, Jun watched the smaller male exist the room. He could see the sadness in his eyes but wasn’t sure where it came from.

* * *

“Minghao-yah,” Jeonghan’s nasally voice chimed. “Whose sunflower are you?” he asked as Minghao turned to him. Smiling shyly, he chimed back in response.

“Jeonghannie-hyung’s sunflower.” A small giggle escaped his lips and he pulled his hand up to block his mouth. Jeonghan lips curled up in approval as he nodded his head, taking a seat besides Minghao. They were at Pledis Headquarters, the group starting to prepare for their comeback. Minghao had snuck off by himself, sitting at a table outside with his inspiration notebook.

“You’re not with the Performance Unit?” Jeonghan questioned.

“I wanted to work on lyrics,” he replied tapping on the open page. “What about you?”

“Oh, I’m just taking a stroll—”

“You’re hiding from work, huh?” Minghao snickered, the older male nodding in agreement.

“Don’t tell the others: I don’t want to get yelled at by Woozi-ssi or S.coups-ssi,” he said, suddenly speaking formally. Happily, Minghao promised and returned to his lyrics. The sun was high in the sky, but the spring breeze kept the temperatures relatively cool. Jeonghan fiddled around with the sleeve of his sweater as he watched Minghao carefully.

The Chinese member was staring down at the page blankly, fiddling with the pen in his long fingers. Every now and then he would doodle in the margins of the page before stopping and scribbling it out. Sighing in annoyance, he threw his head back and stared up at the sky. The clouds floated gently across the blue; like being washed down an invisible stream. “You okay?” Minghao jumped and turned to the older member, momentarily forgetting he was there.

“Yea,” he replied sitting up nicely in his seat again.

“Got a lot on your mind?”

“More like nothing at all,” he said bitterly, looking down at the lyric-less page.

“What’s bothering you?” Minghao hesitated, but soon shook his head no.

“Nothing,” he murmured absent mindedly.

“Minghao-yah,” Jeonghan stated. His tone was that of a parent scolding their child. The younger male lifted his gaze but didn’t speak. “Whose sunflower are you?” he suddenly questioned. Frowning, Minghao tilted his head to the side, confuse by the shift in tone. “Whose sunflower are you?” he repeated with stern eyes.

“Jeonghan-hyung’s,” he answered.

“And as my sunflower, it’s my job to make sure you bloom and shine,” he grinned, a mixture of affection and mischievousness sparkling in his eyes. Minghao smiled at that conclusion.

“You really want to hear it?” he questioned first.

“Of course, you’re my responsibility. It is part of my job to listen to whatever is bothering my precious little dongsaengs,” he encouraged, stroking his head.

“If you insist… I think I have feelings for someone.” Suddenly Jeonghan blushed, jumping in his seat.

“Oh, I was not expecting that,” he muttered out loud to himself. “Continue,” he said, waving Minghao to go on.

“Well, I’ve never liked anyone before—or at least not this seriously. I don’t know how they feel about me though. I’m honestly still trying to figure out what I feel about them…” Minghao paused as he thought about Jun. His heart started to pound, and he clenched the cloth over his chest. He wasn’t sure whether his feelings were real or if he was confusing his lust for love. He doubted it was lust though; just the thought of holding hands and kissing made his mind race. The sight of Jun filled him with fondness and admiration, in a way different from how he saw his other members. “I think I really like them,” he stated squeezing his shirt into his fist.

“I’m assuming it’s someone in the group?” Jeonghan questioned. He didn’t get a replied, but he didn’t need one with the way Minghao bit his lip in shame. “I—love is complicated…” the older male stopped while scratching the back of his head. When he asked what was wrong, this wasn’t what he was expecting. “Love is unexpected,” Jeonghan sighed as he thought about his own experiences.

“You don’t know who you’ll fall in love with and sometimes you won’t even understand why. It can come out of nowhere, but the best thing to do is to just accept it. The more you reject your own feelings, the harder you make it on yourself,” he advised. Scooting closer to the younger member, Jeonghan placed one hand on Minghao’s shoulder and the other on his hand. “If you ever want to talk about it in depth, you know I’ll listen to you,” he comforted. Minghao turned to him with a fond smile.

“Thank you,” his voice was soft and filled with appreciation. The two got up from the table and returned to the practice room where everyone else was—with the exception of Woozi and Hoshi who were in the former’s studio.

“I found Minghao!” Jeonghan announced as the others turned to them.

“And here I thought you snuck off to go take a nap,” S.coups teased as he gave them both a quick side hug, leaving his arms around Jeonghan’s shoulder.

“How dare you! I’ll have you know; I am very responsible—” Joshua snorted, quickly lifting his eyes to Jeonghan and putting his hands out in defense.

“That wasn’t to you, I promise,” he shouted. The two began to bicker and Minghao found his spot besides Mingyu and Dokyeom. Dokyeom was busy talking with Vernon and Seungkwan, but Mingyu turned to him with worried eyes.

“I’m okay,” he assured, patting Mingyu’s shoulder. “I was trying to work on lyrics,” he added when Mingyu’s concern didn’t dissipate.

“Woozi’s letting you write a song?” he beamed. Mingyu had always been a fan of Minghao’s work and was happy to hear him getting some more recognition.

“If I can actually get something done, then yes,” he sighed shaking his head in discontent. “Woozi-hyung and I haven’t decided whose singing in it yet though,”

“I know it’ll be great! Hopefully, I’m the one who gets to sing in it,” he assured giving his friend an encouraging nod. Smiling, Minghao nodded back. Suddenly the doors threw open again and in came Woozi and Hoshi.

“Ready to work?” Woozi asked holding a stack of papers. Hoshi cheered and everyone was quick to follow. “Good,” he declared with a smirk.


	3. Chapter 3

The dorms were more than half empty; several back at the company’s headquarters to plan their new album, while a handful were out on the town to enjoy their last few free days. Jun laid on S.coups’ bed, Wonwoo sitting quietly at his computer. The room was silent, only the sounds of the clicking mouse and keyboard filling the still air. After a while, Jun began to hum, Wonwoo singing along whenever he recognized the melody.

“I’m bored,” the dancer groaned. He had been scrolling through his phone for some time.

“I’m sorry,” Wonwoo replied absent mindedly.

“You’re not even paying attention to me,” Jun pouted as he sat up and crawled closer to his friend.

“It’s not like I asked you to stay with me. You could’ve gone out with the others,” he replied nonchalantly, still focusing on his game.

“That’s true, but I didn’t feel like going out,” he huffed.

“That’s not my fault.” Jun pouted as he pulled up the second chair, resting his head against Wonwoo’s arm. His eyes gazed at the flashing lights on the screen, not registering any of the images shown to him. Playfully, he shook Wonwoo’s arm and slapped it lightly.

“Cut it out, you’re going to make me lose,” he stated, nudging Jun. Jun let out an annoyed whine and pouted with a sigh. Several minutes passed and a victory message appeared on screen. Wonwoo gave a triumphant huff as he turned his chair to look at Jun. “Want to play my 3DS?” he asked reaching across his desk and pulling out the handheld device. Jun took it without a word and flicked it on. The two of them were quiet as they played their separate games.

Eventually, Jun turned on some music. Like the rest of the members, he had a habit of listening to their own songs. It wasn’t so much in a narcissistic way as it was in admiration. No matter how many years went by, it was always hard to believe that they had actually made it as idols. Being able to hear and appreciate the fruit of their labors was something he could never get sick of. Without thinking, the two of them were softly singing along to the songs, filling the empty silence.

“Wonwoo-yah,” Jun called. The male hummed in response but didn’t divert his eyes away from his screen. “Can I ask you for a big favor?” Wonwoo frowned as he quickly glanced to Jun who was still looking at his game.

“Do you want me to do it now? I can’t really leave my game, but I’ll do it as soon as I finish if you want—”

“No, it’s not like that,” his voice suddenly got higher and he elongated his syllables. With his eyes still glued downwards, Jun closed the console and placed it back on the desk. “It’s a big favor, but you don’t actually have to do anything,” he clarified, although Wonwoo still tilted his head to the side.

“I’m not following you,” he said. Jun cleared his throat and sat up, his eyes facing the computer screen. Wonwoo could see his friend’s reflection whenever it turned dark.

“What I’m asking for is something really big. You don’t have to actually go out and do something, but the act itself is what I’m worried about,” he explained still stumbling on his thoughts and words.

“Just ask the favor,” he insisted, still unsure of the other male’s implications.

“Can we kiss?” Wonwoo twisted his head to him, finally pulling his eyes away from the game. Quickly, he turned back.

“Why?” he asked his voice booming louder than usual. Jun could tell that his friend was embarrassed—who wouldn’t be in this kind of situation.

“I want to test something out,”

“Which is?” Jun paused as he contemplated.

“I want to know if I could fall in love by acting like I already am,” he answered honestly. It had only been a day since his conversation with Minghao, but he couldn’t get it out of his head. Having won his game, Wonwoo swiveled around to face him.

“Alright—”

“Alright?” Jun shouted lunging forward, grabbing either side of the chair’s arm rest. Wonwoo leaned back, holding onto Jun’s shoulder and easing him back down onto his chair.

“You asked me; did you expect me to say no?” he frowned.

“Honestly, kind of!” he yelled; his eyes still wide from shock.

“It’s just a kiss; it doesn’t have to mean anything. I’m your friend, if you want help, I should help,” he reasoned, giving Jun a small shrug. Although those were his words, Wonwoo briefly thought back to Mingyu. The two of them weren’t together and he wasn’t actually sure if Mingyu had felt the same. He himself wanted to know if he could fall in love simply by pretending. All Jun was asking for was a kiss and he was sure he could deliver at least that much.

By the way Wonwoo was unconsciously rubbing his own arm, Jun could tell he was nervous. Even he was nervous, and he was the one who suggested it. Shyly, Jun buried his face into his hands. He let out giggled shrieks of embarrassment before looking back up at Wonwoo who was now grinning at his friend’s cute action. “Are we doing this?” he said, looking for affirmation.

“If you really want to,” Wonwoo agreed. Timidly, Jun nodded and swallowed thick. “Should I take off my glasses?” Wonwoo said, remembering all the clichés about glasses getting in the way of a kiss. Jun bobbed his head again as he reached out and carefully removed the metal frames. The two stared at each other closely, having pulled their chairs against one another. “How do we do this?” Wonwoo asked, his eyes darting back and forth from Jun’s eyes to his lips.

“Here, close your eyes.” Wonwoo complied and sat still with his eyelids shut. Taking a deep breath, Jun moved closer. The Korean idol could feel Jun’s breath against his skin. Suddenly, he let out a nervous chuckle as he pulled Wonwoo into a hug, hiding his face into the crook of his friend’s neck. “Give me a moment,” he muttered shyly. He could feel his face burn red as he slowly took a deep breath. Instinctively, Wonwoo wrapped his arms around Jun and stroked his back. Gently pulling away once more, Jun stared at Wonwoo’s face before pushing his lips against his.

Wonwoo could feel the taller male’s lips on him, but just as quickly as it happened, Jun had already moved away. His eyes fluttered open and the two stared at each other intensely. Their faces were hardly centimeters apart and they could feel the heat radiate from one another. Both of their arms were still tightly wrapped around each other. “One more,” Wonwoo whispered, Jun quickly obliging. He had kissed Minghao a hundred times, but he was never as nervous as he was in that moment. His relationship with Minghao was casual, all of it feeling natural to them. As Jun had his lips against him, Wonwoo’s hands clenched into a fist, grabbing onto the back of Jun’s shirt. He pulled him closer, pushing his lips back against Jun.

From outside of the room—the door opened wide—Mingyu stood shocked and confuse. He returned early without the others to see if Wonwoo wanted to get food with him but stumbled upon this instead. Quickly, Mingyu slipped away from the scene and out of the dormitory. His heart filled with jealousy and betrayal, but—most of all—self-hate. For all he knew, he was the one foolish enough to believe that Wonwoo had liked him with no evidence besides his gut feeling. All of them knew Wonwoo wasn’t the type to express his emotions easily, but Mingyu thought his playing hard to get was simply just that; him playing.

The two of them were close, as much as Wonwoo would joke that Mingyu was just a nuisance. He truly believed he at least understood Wonwoo well enough to read through his shy tendencies. As he stood against the cool spring air, his body felt numb and the world seemed to drain of color. He knew he had no rights to be hurt by Wonwoo’s actions; they weren’t together after all. Yet the bitterness he felt burned in him.

After a moment, Wonwoo and Jun backed away. Wonwoo grazed his lips with his fingertips as Jun wiped his with the back of his hand. The two of them were quiet, both so caught up in the kiss that neither had notice Mingyu’s presence. “So?” Wonwoo said. Jun sat quietly as he looked down and shook his head.

“Nope, I don’t think I could trick myself,” he concluded, lifting his gaze to Wonwoo with a wide grin. “Thanks for helping me though; I know it was a lot of me to ask,” he added with an embarrass blush. Wonwoo smirked and patted Jun’s back as he returned to his games.

“Glad I could help,” he chimed. The two of them returned to their previous activities, but now Wonwoo’s heart ached. He cursed to himself mentally. It might not have worked for Jun, but it was slowly working on him.

* * *

Everyone but Woozi returned home in the evening. S.coups bought dinner and all of them sat around the living room floor of the 1st dorm and shared the meal happily. Mingyu sat beside Wonwoo on the edgy of his bed, constantly stealing longing glances at his crush. After dinner came to an end, the majority of people returned to their rooms. Several members stayed behind to play card games and Mingyu and Wonwoo watched on alongside them.

Still unsure what to make of the kiss scene, Mingyu stared helplessly. He wanted to confront him, ask him out right what had happened, but he was afraid to find out that Wonwoo might have never felt the same. He scooted closer to the older male who turned to him questionably and moved away again. Pouting, Mingyu let out a huff of air. He rested his chin on his hand and watched the others silently.

His eyelids became heavy and he struggled to keep his attention up. His head bobbed as he battled against his exhaustion. He turned to Wonwoo, who paid him no mind. With no ulterior motives, he placed his head against Wonwoo’s shoulder. Immediately, the older male nudged him off.

Mingyu jolted awake and was stunned by his member’s actions. All of them were very close and physically affectionate, placing their heads on each other was hardly anything. A sinking feeling overcame Mingyu as a lump started to form in his throat. The sleepiness had washed away to anger and embarrassment. Was Wonwoo purposefully avoiding him? Or was he just being his usual self? He knew his judgment was cloudy and he didn’t want to jump to conclusion, yet his heartbeat still grew louder and louder.

Trying again, Mingyu placed his arms around Wonwoo’s shoulders. Once again, Wonwoo moved away from the younger male, throwing his arms off of himself. “What do you want?” he asked turning to him with a soft frown. Swallowing hard, Mingyu averted his eyes and didn’t reply. Confuse, but not very bothered, Wonwoo returned his attention to the card game.

As much as he told himself not to, Mingyu’s mind began to race frantically, coming up with the worst of worst scenarios. He quickly shook those thoughts away and stared at Wonwoo’s hand beside him. Carefully, he inched his hand closer, but stopped when he was only a centimeter away. He could have easily reached out for his hand with a single finger but didn’t. He didn’t know if he could handle another rejection. Instead, he tapped his finger rhythmically against the bedsheet. Wonwoo could feel the tapping but was too engrossed in the other’s interactions to really noticed.

Continuing with his futile attempts to get recognize, Mingyu suddenly burned with anger. He had fallen for Wonwoo, and while that couldn’t have been helped by either of them, Mingyu believed Wonwoo had fallen for him too. While a part of him understood that it wasn’t the older male’s fault, that he had just been friendly and as affectionate as he was with the other members, Mingyu didn’t want to blame himself. Overwhelmed and frustrated, Mingyu suddenly grabbed Wonwoo’s shoulder and shoved. Falling onto his side, Wonwoo gave a loud shouted and looked up at Mingyu.

“What was that for?” he yelled, reaching out for the taller male and pulling himself back up. Wonwoo kept his hand on Mingyu’s biceps, as he refused to look at him. “Hey,” Wonwoo yelled again, shaking him lightly. The rest of the members were still focused on their game; they were used to shouting, especially if Mingyu and Wonwoo were involved, so the situation didn’t arise any concern among them. “What’s wrong with you?” Wonwoo asked. His low voice suddenly turned soft when Mingyu continued to bite on his lower lip and avoid him. “Hey—”

“You’re no fun, Wonwoo-yah,” Mingyu suddenly stated with irritation as he stood up from his spot. “I’m tired; I’m going to go to sleep. Goodnight guy,” he called as he left the common area and headed towards his bedroom. The remaining members gave out a mixture of goodnights and farewells.

Vernon looked up from his spot on the floor, his arms loosely dangling across Seungkwan, and met eyes with a baffled Wonwoo. Vernon lips were pressed together in a thin line and his nose scrunched up. Shaking his head, Wonwoo shrugged. “No clue,” he mouthed, knowing what his member was trying to say. Glancing down the hall, Vernon sighed slowly. When he looked back to Wonwoo, the older male was gazing sadly in the same direction. Piecing together what was going on, Vernon pulled Seungkwan closer and scoffed.

“People can be complicated,” he muttered out loud to no one in particular.

“Are you referring to yourself?” Seungkwan said bluntly. Vernon jerked away and pouted.

“No,” he grumbled as he placed his chin back to his friend’s shoulder. Seungkwan didn’t reply as he briefly scratched the side of Vernon’s head.

“People are always complicated,” he stated after a while.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the only chapter that has an explicit scene in it and I didn't want to raise the rating just for one scene. So, if you are of age and would like to read the explicit version of this chapter, click on part two of this "series". The story is titled Haze!

“Aw, what do you mean you’re bailing?” Mingyu whined into the phone.

“ _I’m sorry, it was a last-minute thing_ ,” Dokyeom replied.

“So BooSeokSoon is more important than 97-line?” he gasped exaggeratedly falling into Minghao’s lap.

“ _No! Of course not! I want to be there, I just can’t—_ ”

“ _Wait you don’t want to be with us?_ ” Hoshi’s voice sounded from Dokyeom’s end of the line.

“ _We don’t want you either. You can leave_ ,” Seungkwan added. Suddenly the phone erupted into shouting. Mingyu yanked it away from his ear and looked up at the other 97-liner, who shrugged in response. He took Mingyu’s phone and placed the call on speaker.

“Kyeomie, it’s okay,” he shouted. The others quieted down, Minghao assumingly succeeded in catching their attention. “We could always hangout later, just focus on your work for now,” he added.

“ _Minghao-yah, you’re so good to me_ ,” Dokyeom cried into the phone.

“Fighting,” Minghao chimed with a soft smile. “You too Hoshi-hyung, Seungkwan-ah. Have fun, good luck.” All of them said their goodbyes before hanging up. Minghao returned the phone to Mingyu who was still laying comfortably along his lap.

“Kicking me out?” Mingyu asked when he got pushed to the side. Shaking his head, Minghao got up from his bed.

“We could still spend time together,” he said as he picked up two wine glasses. “Down to drink?” he smiled gesturing with them.

“Gladly,”

“Have a preference?”

“Something strong,” Mingyu’s tone took a sudden shift. Although it had been a few days since he saw Wonwoo and Jun kiss and him lashing out at Wonwoo, he hadn’t spoken to either of them about it. He was too anxious to, but his anxiety would occasionally bubble into angry. Overall, Mingyu knew he was a distraught mess. Minghao glanced at him with concern, but still complied anyways, grabbing his strongest bottle of wine.

As he popped it open, Mingyu sat up. Clinking their glass, the two drank and chatted away their worries. After getting halfway through the bottle, they could both feel a buzzing in their head. The two of them slumped against each other, giggling at dumb memories between them. For as much as they bickered and for as much as Minghao liked giving Mingyu a hard time, they were truly one of the closest pairs in the group.

“Let’s take a picture and send it to Seokmin,” Mingyu suggested, fumbling to get his phone from his pocket. The two of them posed with their wine glasses, taking multiple of pictures as they made funny faces at the camera. Jokingly, Mingyu puckered his lips, a few centimeters from Minghao’s cheek. The smaller male let out an embarrassed laugh as he covered his agape mouth, pretending to be surprised by the gesture.

Finishing their small photoshoot, Mingyu picked out the best shots and sent them to Dokyeom. As he searched through them, Mingyu suddenly noticed how pretty Minghao’s face was. Of course he knew his friend was attractive, but he never actually spent the time to fully appreciate his visuals. When he came across the pictures of him pretending to kiss Minghao, he smiled softly. They could make a cute couple, he thought as he sent the photos.

Mingyu looked to Minghao who was watching the wine swirl in the glass. Throwing his head back, he downed the rest of the content. When he turned to Mingyu, he caught his friend already staring. “What?” he laughed, a wide smile across his face. Mingyu coughed dryly as he turned away, his heart beating at the cuteness of his friend.

“Want more?” he asked, reaching out to the bottle of wine to make his quick aversion seem more natural. “It’s actually almost done. Let’s finished it off,” he suggested dumping the rest into their cups, Minghao’s hand extended out towards him. Mingyu slowly sipped on the wine as he watched Minghao bring the cup up to his face.

He watched as his friend placed his pink lips on the rim of the thin glass, not yet taking a sip. Instead, Minghao closed his eyes and took a deep breath, appreciating the smell of the alcohol. His lips were slightly parted, and he unconsciously licked his tongue back and forth along the glass. Mingyu drank faster as he felt his body heat up from more than just the alcohol. Minghao took his time with his drink until he noticed that Mingyu had already finished his glass.

“Here,” he stated, tilting his head back and taking large gulps. The taller male gawked as he watched the liquid move down his friend’s throat, his Adam’s apple bouncing up and down. After he finished, Mingyu took Minghao’s cup and placed them both off on top of the fridge with the empty wine bottle. “Let’s watch a movie,” he suggested as he pulled out a laptop and began looking through titles. After the two picked one out, they got under the covers and cuddled. Minghao sat in between Mingyu’s legs. His arms were wrapped around Minghao’s waist and his head was resting against his.

As they watched the movie, Mingyu’s mind began to wander. He knew he wasn’t thinking clearly because of the alcohol, but at that point he didn’t care. He hadn’t been thinking clearly for the past several days. Occasionally, Minghao would jostle around, readjusting his position. He could feel his pants tighten and he was worried that his friend would catch on. He was so out of focus, that he didn’t notice when Minghao leaned all the way back against him. The smaller member paused as he purposefully pushed his hip back to see if he were hallucinating. Mingyu let out a moan and quickly covered his mouth, Minghao jumping back and turning to him.

They were both completely frozen. Minghao stared between Mingyu’s legs and Mingyu watched him stare through the gaps between his fingers. “I can’t explain,” he whispered in embarrassment.

“It’s uh… it’s okay,” Minghao replied finally realizing how weird it must be for him to gawk.

“I just made everything weird,” Mingyu groaned as he squeezed his thighs together in attempts to conceal himself.

“Its fine, really. It happens,” Minghao comforted still unsure of what was happening.

“Are you sure?” he asked, lowering his hand to see his friend. Minghao had his head hung as he softly picked at the lint on his bed cover.

“It’s really no big deal. We’re both guys, I understand that it happens randomly,” he stated still too embarrassed to lift his gaze. Mingyu stared at him for a moment before crawling closer, Minghao patiently watching as he moved into view.

“It wasn’t random.” Minghao immediately lifted his eyes in shock and Mingyu moved in to kiss him. He was surprised when Minghao didn’t pull back or pushed him away. When he sat back down, he saw Minghao’s wide eyes. “You didn’t reject me?” he questioned.

“You’re not in your right mind,” Minghao stated, his eyes shifting away.

“Neither are you,” he said as he grabbed Minghao’s face again. This time he was much more aggressive, running his tongue between Minghao’s lips and biting at the lower one. Instinctively, he opened his mouth, allowing Mingyu to deepen the kiss. Minghao melted at the feeling of Mingyu’s tongue inside his mouth. They could taste the wine from each other’s lips and felt more drunk than before. Minghao reached his arms around Mingyu’s neck, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him closer. Carefully, Mingyu lifted Minghao on top of him.

“We should stop,” Minghao mumbled, momentarily breaking apart.

“Do we really have to?” he asked starting to kiss down Minghao’s neck. The smaller male tried turning away, but Mingyu was fast enough to wrap his arms around Minghao’s waist, pulling his back to his chest. “Do we have to?” he repeated. He continued kissing Minghao’s neck and shoulder.

“This isn’t right,” he muttered weakly.

“Then tell me to stop. Just say you don’t want this,” Mingyu replied, coming to a complete stop. He waited for a second, but Minghao didn’t speak. Smiling, he continued.

“The others are going to hear us,” Minghao whispered.

“Only Hansol is here and he probably has earbuds on,” Mingyu whispered back. Without a care, the two of them continued, allowing the alcohol to overpower their thoughts. Both of them gave in to their desires. After they finished, the smaller man immediately sat up as he went to grab a napkin. He finally paused the movie that had been running the entire time and closed the screen, shutting down the projector along with it.

“I’m going to get myself cleaned up,” he stated, glancing over at Mingyu. He was on his back with one arm draped across his eyes, panting heavily. “I’ll be back,” he said as he grabbed a towel and left. Standing under the cold water, Minghao finally sobered up. Although they didn’t go all the way, he felt disgusted with himself. It wasn’t necessarily the act that he did or who he had done it with, but the fact that he had done it when his heart belonged to somebody else.

When Minghao returned to his room, all the lights had been turned off. “Mingyu?” he called as he flicked on the switch. As the lights beamed, he saw Mingyu sitting on the floor beside his bed fully clothed with his head in his hands. His blanket was nowhere to be seen on his bed. “Are you okay?” he asked as he took a seat beside his friend, placing a hand on his back in a comforting matter.

“Of course I’m not okay! I just forced myself onto my best friend,” he cried. Minghao froze, stunned by his reaction. He smiled softly as he pulled Mingyu towards him into a hug.

“Don’t blame yourself,” he cooed. “It was my choice to continue. I could have said no at any point,” he comforted starting to gently sway back and forth.

“But who knows if I would’ve even stopped. I could’ve done something terrible to you, something absolutely horrendous,” he shouted.

“Why are you being so hard on yourself? I told you it’s not your fault. I could’ve easily gotten you to stop if I had to,” he frowned, lightly hitting Mingyu in attempt to ease the mood.

“There’s no way you could have stopped me—”

“I was literally holding you in my hand. If I wanted you to stop and you didn’t, I could have just crushed it,” Minghao stated bluntly causing Mingyu to jump in fear and hold his crouch at just the thought of it getting squeezed mercilessly. “It’s okay,” he reassured as he gave Mingyu a smile. With a heavy sigh, Mingyu placed a hand against Minghao’s face. He grazed his thumb along Minghao’s cheek before giving him a sad smile in return.

“Something in your eyes tells me you’re conflicted,” he said. Minghao turned away quickly, inadvertently revealing that it was true. “I’m sorry—”

“It’s not your fault. My problem is with me, not you,” he replied pulling Mingyu’s hand off of his face and holding it gently in his. “I betrayed someone else and myself by doing this, but once again, I agreed to do it,” he said honestly.

“You have a girlfriend?” Mingyu gasped in shock pulling away.

“What? No—”

“A boyfriend?”

“No! No, Mingyu, it’s not like that. I’m not dating anyone,” he sighed, although he couldn’t help but have a small smile.

“You like someone?” Minghao paused for a brief moment before nodding. “I understand…” The atmosphere became heavy again and Minghao rose to his feet.

“What did you do to my blankets by the way?” he asked, pointing at the empty mattress.

“Since we made a mess, I thought I would go clean it,” he replied as he stood up as well.

“Thank you,” Minghao smiled. “You should probably go shower,” he suggested as he grabbed the dirty cups and empty wine bottle. Mingyu reached out to help him but stopped when Minghao flinched at his touch. “Ah, it’s not what you think—”

“I get it,” Mingyu said bitterly. “I should go shower,” he muttered as he left the room. Minghao cursed to himself in Mandarin and shook his head. He walked out to the kitchen, turning on the sink faucet. Several stray plates and cups were left in there and he thought he might as well clean them too. Suddenly, he could hear a commotion coming from the front door. Hoshi, Dokyeom, and Seungkwan entered the dorm in a burst of laughter and chattering. Dokyeom immediately took note of Minghao and came running up to him.

“The8-ssi!” he cried. “I’m sorry I couldn’t play with you and Mingyu-ssi,” he stated formally, wrapping his arms around him from behind. Minghao momentarily flinched, but Dokyeom was too busy apologizing to notice.

“It’s fine,” he stated back casually. “Did you have fun?” Dokyeom nodded but still nuzzled against him sadly.

“I’m really, really sorry,” he apologized again. “Are you guys done hanging out?” Minghao nodded. Sighing, Dokyeom wiggled around.

“Watch out, I’m washing dishes,” Minghao stated, elbowing his friend. He stopped moving but tightened his embrace.

“Is Mingyu-ssi already asleep? Do you think he’ll be okay with staying up with us? Are you okay with staying up with me? I know it was my own fault that I couldn’t be here, but I really do want to spend some time with you guys,” he mumbled on sadly. Minghao looked at him for a moment before breaking into a soft smile.

“Of course I want to spend time with you,” he replied bumping his head against him. “Mingyu is taking a shower right now. You can ask him when he gets out.” Dokyeom beamed as he darted towards the hall. “Wait! I said when he’s done!” Minghao yelled after him, Hoshi and Seungkwan laughing in the background. Seungkwan approached the sink, helping Minghao rinse the dishes.

“Nothing can stop hyung when he gets like that,” Seungkwan grinned. Minghao smiled as he briefly nuzzled his head against Seungkwan in a hello.

“How did your thing go?” he asked.

“Pretty well! If we’re lucky enough, we’ll record the song alongside the new album and probably release it a little after. Since our next comeback is a full-length album, we’re discussing whether we should put it in and do special units like we did in _Teen Age_ ,” Seungkwan explained. The two of them chatted about potential songs and pairings they could do for their album, Hoshi chiming in from the living room. As they finished cleaning, Mingyu walked down the hall with Dokyeom hanging off his arms.

“He said yes!” Dokyeom shouted, Seungkwan shushing him to be mindful of their neighbors.

“Are you sure you still want to spend time together?” Mingyu questioned the Chinese member.

“It really is fine,” Minghao insisted, Mingyu still scratching the back of his head in doubt. Dokyeom left to change and clean off for the day as Minghao went to his room first to find a movie, Mingyu retrieving the blanket. As they walked in, Minghao place the empty bottle on the floor with the rest of his collection. When Mingyu returned, the three of them nestled up, Dokyeom in the middle. Minghao was laying down with his back propped up against the headboard. Dokyeom laid his head on his chest with his arms wrapped around him, the two holding hands. Mingyu was the only one sitting up, his hand resting on Dokyeom’s side occasionally petting him. Throughout the movie, the two of them stole awkward glances at one another.

“This is nice,” Dokyeom smiled. “Soon we will be too busy to spend time together like this,” he sighed. The other members didn’t reply, although gave small hums and pats as signs of acknowledgment. The eldest of the three glanced between them and frowned. “You two are acting weird,” he pointed out. He had noticed it earlier, but the awkwardness was too thick for him to handle.

“You must be imagining things,” Minghao replied giving his hand a squeeze. Shaking his head, Dokyeom sat up a bit and turned to look at Mingyu.

“You guys are so quiet,”

“We don’t always have to argue,” Minghao pointed out.

“I know, it’s not like you always argue anyways. It’s just that… you’re _quiet_ ,” he repeated. “Did something happen when I was away?” Mingyu glanced over to Minghao before looking back to Dokyeom.

“We are probably out of it because of the alcohol, don’t worry about it.” Dokyeom’s pout deepen, his eyes turning away in rejection.

“Do you guys really think I don’t know you that well? Do you not trust me?” he questions.

“No, no! It’s nothing like that,” Minghao shouted pulling Dokyeom back to his chest for a hug. Meeting eyes with Mingyu, Minghao sighed. “I’m honestly, _truly_ fine. There’s nothing wrong with me and there’s certainly nothing wrong with you. While I am happy that you’re concern, you have no reason to be,” he said, his words having a double meaning. “You guys are my best friends; I’m as happy as you are,” he assured. Immediately, Mingyu threw his arms around them and let out a frustrated shout.

“I’m okay,” he laughed looking at Minghao with adoration. “We’re okay.” Cuddled in between their arms, Dokyeom dropped the subject and the three of them enjoyed the movie together. By the end of it, Dokyeom had fallen asleep on top of Minghao. Kissing the side of Dokyeom’s head, Minghao looked up to Mingyu.

“I’m going to let him spend the night with me. He must be exhausted from his schedule,” he stated. Shutting down the laptop, Mingyu unplugged it from the projector as he got up.

“I’ll return to my room for the night then,” he stated, bowing his head.

“Hey Mingyu-yah,” Minghao called right before he reached the door. He turned around. “I’m okay,” he stated firmly.

“I’m okay too,” he smiled softly giving Minghao an encouraging nod. “Goodnight,” he added turning off the lights and walking out. Although he was still upset with himself, Mingyu was comforted knowing that Minghao held nothing against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There likely won't be an update on Monday. I have final exams next week and need to focus on that. Hope you understand! Thank you for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

“It’s time to get up!” a voice sounded, someone pouncing on Minghao and Dokyeom. Both of them startled awake, jumping at the sudden wake up call. Grinning, Jun sat on top of them triumphantly.

“What’s happening?” Dokyeom moaned as he buried his face into Minghao.

“You fell asleep in my room last night,” he answered, covering his eyes as Jun threw open the curtains.

“Wake up! Wake up!” he chimed again, shaking the two of them vigorously. Dokyeom whined, pulling the blanket up and over his head.

“We don’t have a schedule, why are you waking us?” Minghao sighed as he sat up.

“Mingyu made ramyeon for all of us; it’s a family breakfast,” the older male explained, peeling the blanket away from Dokyeom. He climbed off of them as their main vocalist pushed him to the side.

“I’ll head down first then; I need to go change,” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he walked out. Jun turned to Minghao as he started patting him on the head.

“Wake up, wake up,” he snickered. At this point, he was purposefully trying to be a nuisance. Minghao’s heart ached as he gazed at his friend’s grinning face. Although they weren’t in a relationship, the two of them never discussed if their actions were meant to be exclusive to one another.

“Hey Junnie-hyung…”

“Hmm?” Jun hummed back tilling his head to the side still beaming with joy. Stopping himself, Minghao leaned forward to kiss Jun instead. Without hesitation or approval, Minghao deepened the kiss. He yanked at Jun’s shirt, pulling him closer until he was almost on top of him. The older male blushed as he pulled back and covered his lips. “What was that for?” he chuckled. As much as Minghao wanted to be honest with him and come clean, he knew now wasn’t the time.

“No reason, I just felt like it,” he replied combing his fingers through his hair.

“Oh? Being risqué first thing in the morning I see,” Jun teased, Minghao sending him death glares. Jun laughed again as he patted Minghao’s cheeks. “Seriously, what was with the kiss? We normally only do those things when something is bothering us,” he reasoned.

“It’s nothing, I just drank a lot last night—” Jun raised his brow with a frown of concern. Quickly, Minghao shook his head. “Mingyu was upset about something last night and we ended up drink my strongest bottle—the whole bottle,” he explained.

“Do you know what he was upset about?” Jun asked, a worrisome expression still painted across his face. Minghao shook his head again.

“I didn’t ask him. He didn’t seem like he wanted to get into it, so I avoided the conversation,” he replied getting up from the bed, Jun following after him.

“I’ll investigate it then,” Jun concluded.

“You really don’t have to,” Minghao sighed.

“It’s alright, I’m worried for him too.” Minghao nodded his head in approval and stopped right before his door. He turned to Jun who gave him a questioning stare. He felt terrible with himself, but he didn’t know where to start. Sighing, Minghao glanced away. Without a word, Jun held onto Minghao’s face. He placed a kiss on his member’s forehead and ruffled up his hair.

“Don’t look so upset,” he smiled brightly. Minghao’s face burned pink and his heart raced. After brushing his teeth, Minghao meet with the others in the 1st dorm. Everyone else was already there, setting up the floor for them to eat. They all talked loudly, most of them reminiscing on the past several weeks and how they would be too busy to share meals like this. Mingyu brought the pot to the middle of the table, Woozi and Jeonghan filling up the cups and distributing them.

“Our schedules are going to be crazy,” Hoshi sighed throwing his head back exasperatedly.

“Hey, that just means we got work. It’s always worth it in the end,” S.coups said, the others agreeing alongside him.

“It’s all for our loving Carats,” Wonwoo added. “The harder we work the more they’ll enjoy it,”

“You can’t lecture about hard work when you’re literally a sloth,” Hoshi commented, everyone bursting into laughter. The rest of breakfast was just as boisterous, the members poking fun at each other and relaxing. Woozi left first to meet up with Bumzu to discuss production, the others Seventeen leaders following with him. Everyone else agreed to go in a few hours and bid them farewell. After several rounds of rock-paper-scissors, Vernon, Jeonghan, and Jun were left to clean up. The remaining members left immediately, except for Mingyu who wanted to hang around and was exempt from cleaning in the first place.

“It’s always me, it’s always me,” Vernon grumbled shaking his head as he picked up all of the plates. Mingyu laughed at his friend’s misery as he reached over to help.

“Joshua-hyung complains that he always loses in rock-paper-scissors, but I think you’re more unlucky,” Jun teased patting Vernon’s back. Holding his breath, Mingyu watched as Jun walked by. He still felt uneasy around Jun after seeing him and Wonwoo. Parts of him were overcome with jealousy, but he knew better than to act out on those feelings. He didn’t know the situation, but no matter how he played it in his mind, there wasn’t any possible reason that could’ve comforted him.

Yet, he knew he was much worse. He was upset over Wonwoo kissing someone else, yet here he was knowing fully well what he did with Minghao the night before. He had already been feeling guilty for what he did in general but realizing that Minghao had feelings for someone else and the fact that he did as well just worsened his pain. He began to wonder if he only did what he did because he was heartbroken over Wonwoo. Was the hurt so much that he was just using Minghao to comfort himself?

Immediately, Mingyu pushed those thoughts out of his mind. When he was in the moment last night, he wasn’t thinking about Wonwoo or how he wanted someone to make him feel better. He was only thinking about Minghao and how much he adored him. It was something he had wanted. Jun took notice of Mingyu’s blank stare. Remembering his conversation early that morning, he approached him.

“You seem distracted,” he stated placing a hand on Mingyu’s shoulder. Instinctively, Mingyu slapped his arm away. Jun was stunned by the reaction and retreated his hand apologetically.

“I uh… sorry,” he shouted. Darting to the kitchen, he dropped the pot into the sink and hurried away to his room. “I’m going to get ready to leave. Good luck cleaning,” he yelled over his shoulder before slamming his door shut.

“Well that was weird,” Jeonghan coughed breaking the silence.

“Very,” Vernon added, wiping down the table and placing it away. Jun nodded his head softly as he stared at the empty hallway. When all of them arrived at the company, Jun grabbed Mingyu and pulled him off to the side before anyone could stopped them.

“Are you okay?” Jun asked holding one of Mingyu’s hands in both of his.

“I’m fine,” he said staring down at the floor.

“Look at me.” Mingyu did as he was told and raised his head. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing—”

“Minghao told me something was wrong—”

“Minghao?” Mingyu gasped, his heart starting to pound. “What did he say?” he asked, worrying that the other member might have told Jun what happened the night before.

“Nothing, he just said that you were upset and that you guys drank,” he answered. Mingyu let out a sigh of relief and nodded his head.

“It’s really nothing hyung. Thank you for worrying but I don’t want to talk about it,” he said as he took a step back and pulled his hands away.

“Mingyu-yah,” Jun insisted reaching out for him. Once again, Mingyu dodged his hands. His expression was a mixture of anger and fear as he looked away quickly. He bit his lower lips and shook his head.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he repeated before walking towards the practice room. Confused, Jun followed him quietly. When they entered, Vernon approached Mingyu who stopped him before he had the chance to say anything. “No,” he stated firmly, Vernon dropping the conversation before it even started. Minghao looked on worryingly from the side of the room but didn’t ask either of them what happened.

As they all chatted away—playing word games and messing around—it became obvious to Jeonghan that Mingyu was avoiding Jun. He watched their awkward encounters and sighed to himself. “I’m going to the vending machine; does anybody want anything? It’s on me,” the second oldest stated as he got up from his seat on the floor. Everyone poured in their orders, Jeonghan writing it all down. “Mingyu-yah, come with me. I can’t hold all the drinks,” he ordered as he walked towards the door. Mingyu let out a distraught whine and was met with a harsh glance. “Are you saying no to your hyung? Even after I offered to buy everyone a drink?” Mingyu shrunk at the glare and quickly trailed after him.

The two of them quietly walked down to the vending machine. Once they arrived, Jeonghan pulled out his card and looked at the list of drinks. “So,” he hummed, Mingyu dreading his next words. “I know we don’t always get along—”

“Hyung, we get along just fine.” Jeonghan turned to him and then back to the vending machine.

“So, I know we don’t always get along.” Mingyu sighed and shook his head, allowing him to continue. “But I’m here if you need me,” he looked up at Mingyu and smiled.

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” he answered, his voice much softer than when he was with Jun.

“Alright,” Jeonghan hummed shaking his head. “Have it your way. Just know that any problems you have in the group will affect all of us too. We’re about to have a comeback and our teamwork is more important than ever. Fix your problems before it becomes all of ours,” he lectured. Mingyu hung his head in shame and nodded meekly.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. He genuinely felt bad that his behavior was effecting the others. In all honestly, he felt bad for Jun too. He knew his jealousy was out of place and that it wasn’t necessarily Jun’s fault that he felt hurt. There was no reason for Jun to have to explain himself—nor the kiss—to him and he knew he shouldn’t be angry because of it. Realizing he may have gone too far, Jeonghan sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“I’m here for you. The rest of the members are here for you. If you don’t want to tell it to me, I’m sure anyone else would be willing to listen to you,” he stated before double checking the drinks they bought. As they picked them up, Jeonghan handed one more can to Mingyu. “This is Jun’s,” he said. Mingyu nodded his head as he took it hesitantly. When they returned, the other members cheered loudly, happy with the free drinks. Mingyu held onto Jun’s till the end and placed it in front of him. Grinning, the older member took it. In a fluid motion, he grabbed Mingyu’s hand and pulled him into a hug.

“Still mad at me?” he asked.

“I was never mad at you,” Mingyu replied hugging him back. Jun laughed and nodded as he pulled away.

“If you say so,” he smiled, although, it was obvious he knew better.

“We can talk about it at home,” he said. Jun blinked in surprise before nodding his head enthusiastically.

“Yea! Only if you want to,” he smiled. Mingyu assured him he did before walking over to Vernon and Joshua.

“Good?” Vernon asked.

“Been better, been worse,” he answered. “Sorry about earlier,”

“Don’t even worry about it.” Joshua looked between the two questionably, but decided it was best not to know. They spent the majority of the day goofing off and discussing concepts. Each unit had a meeting with Woozi to discuss plans for the album. When they all returned home—Woozi once again staying behind to work—Jun went to Mingyu’s room. The two of them laid on his bed, Mingyu on his back and Jun on his stomach, propped up by his forearms.

“Ah, I’m really sorry about today,” the taller male groaned, realizing just how out of place and out of line his behavior was. He hid his face with his arms and wiggled around in embarrassment. Jun laughed as he playfully hit his member, forcefully prying his arms away.

“Why so shy? It’s really okay,” he beamed, smiling down on him. “I’m just happy you’re talking to me.” Mingyu frowned deeply as he turned on his side to hug Jun and bury his face against his arms instead. “So are you going to tell me what you’ve been so distraught about?” he asked, starting to comb his fingers through Mingyu’s hair. Mingyu shook his head.

“I want to keep it to myself for now. I haven’t really decided my feelings on the matter, and I feel like it would be bad for me to talk about it without coming to a proper conclusion,” he said. His voice was steady, and Jun could feel his genuine resolve. He gave a warm smile and placed his forehead against the side of Mingyu’s for a moment.

“I hope your troubles settle with ease.” Mingyu glanced at him and smirked.

“I forget how warm you are,” he mumbled lazily. Back in their early trainee days, Jun was the one always looking after them, doting on their needs and troubles. After that role was taken by S.coups and Jeonghan, Jun became more wild and playful. He enjoyed Jun’s duality immensely. He was someone he could play with, but when he needed to rely on someone, Jun would always be there.

The two of them talked idly about trivial things—Mingyu at some point explaining the entire plot of the movie he had watched the night before. Jun listened attentively, occasionally making puns and witty one liners. To his delight, Mingyu would laugh in response. Eventually, Jun received a text from Dino asking if he would return to their room to sleep. Realizing how late it was Jun bid Mingyu goodnight. “Hyung wait!” Mingyu hollered as he grabbed Jun’s arm. Stopping as he was told, Mingyu wrapped his arms around Jun in a tight embrace. “Thank you. I know I wasn’t on my best behavior today, but I’ll try harder from now on.” Blushing, Jun’s heart throbbed. He laughed as he squeezed Mingyu back and rocked him from side to side.

“Cute! Why are you acting all cute and serious for?” he teased. The younger member pouted at the comment but couldn’t keep a smile from taking over.

“Really, I’m very thankful for you today.” Jun broke away from the hug to lightly slap Mingyu’s chest from embarrassment.

“Stop, unless you’re trying to make me fall in love with you,” Jun joked.

“I’m pretty sure I already have,” Mingyu joked back, giving Jun a wink. Suddenly, Jun’s heart skipped a beat and he stared dumbly at Mingyu. “Hyung?” he questioned when the older male froze. Shaking his head, he grinned widely.

“Goodnight Mingyu-yah,” he quickly stated ruffling his hair and turning the lights off as he left. Confused, but unfazed with the dancer’s weirdness, Mingyu ignored it. As he dozed off in the dark, his phone buzzed.

“ _Too lazy to come back. Sleeping in my studio._ ” Mingyu read from Woozi.

“ _Please take care of yourself hyung._ ” His phone buzzed almost immediately after but when he checked, the message wasn’t from the producer.

“ _I’m always thankful for you. Sleep well._ ” Jun wrote. Smiling to himself, Mingyu sent a heart before drifting off.


	6. Chapter 6

Wonwoo stirred awake to the sound of clattering pots and dishes. He grumbled softly, rolling over and sticking his head under his pillow. Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass bolted him awake. Immediately, he ran to the kitchen to find a frozen Mingyu. Mingyu looked up at Wonwoo, the two of them meeting eyes. “Go back to sleep,” he whispered, carefully placing the pot in his hand down on the countertop.

“Don’t move,” Wonwoo sighed as he quickly went to grab a broom. This was the first time the two of them talked alone since Mingyu’s outburst several days before. When he returned, he carefully swept up the glass. “That should be all of it,” he hummed, crawling around the floor to double check. When he got back up, he smirked teasingly at Mingyu. “You’re as clumsy as ever.” Mingyu glared softly but ignored him. “So what’re you doing in the kitchen?” he asked, leaning against the counter.

“I was in the mood to cook,” he answered pulling out several bags of ramyeon. “Go back to sleep,” he repeated as he opened each individual bag. Wonwoo disacknowledged his words as he continued to watch him. The air was completely silent sans the noise of the noodle packaging. Without a word, Wonwoo approached him and picked up the pot. Instantly, Mingyu had his hand on the other side of it and stopped Wonwoo. “What are you doing?” he asked sternly.

“I’m going to fill it with water and boil it for you,” he answered with a frown.

“It’s fine,” he said, yanking it from his grip. “I want to cook alone.” Wonwoo scoffed, semi-rolling his eyes as he took a step back.

“Fine, but I’ll be on my bed if you need me. Try not to break anything else,” he muttered. After brushing his teeth, Wonwoo laid quietly and listened to the sounds of Mingyu cooking. He wasn’t sure why Mingyu was upset with him, but he wanted to respect his member’s privacy. He would just wait until Mingyu was ready to talked with him. Practices and unit meetings hadn’t been so awkward. Both S.coups and Vernon were good at diffusing situations; not that they ever got too tense or uncomfortable—at least for him.

Speaking of S.coups, the general leader sauntered out of his room and into the common area. His hair stood out in a chaotic mess and his eyelids were still heavy with sleep. “Did something break earlier?” he grumbled, clearing his throat from his morning voice.

“Mingyu broke a plate,” Wonwoo informed.

“Mingyu-yah!” S.coups hollered.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! I’m making breakfast for everyone!” he shouted back. By the sound of his voice, Wonwoo could only imagined that Mingyu looked like a puppy with his tail between his legs. S.coups nodded in acknowledgement, returning to his room.

“Someone wake me when it’s done,” he said over his shoulder, Wonwoo humming in response. Several minutes passed and Joshua was the next one to leave his room.

“Where’s Seokmin?” he asked, his fist was pressed to his lips. Wonwoo sat up and shrugged, causing Joshua’s concern to grow.

“He’s sleeping in Minghao’s room,” Mingyu answered from his spot in the kitchen. “We were watching a movie, but he fell asleep and Minghao didn’t want to disturb him,” he explained as Joshua let out a relieved sigh.

“That’s good then. I was worried he didn’t return from his schedule last night,” he said as he took a seat at the dining table. “Wait a second, you guys watched a movie without inviting me? The betrayal!” he gasped exaggeratedly.

“Minghao and I also drank some wine—”

“You drank _wine_ without me!” he cried, pretending to faint onto the seat beside him.

“It was 97-line, hyung. We’ll watch a movie with you next time,” Mingyu answered sweetly. Joshua laughed in approval of that answer as he sat nicely in his seat again. The two of them chatted away, the vocalist occasionally asking Wonwoo to weigh in his opinion during the conversation. One by one, the other members started filing into the living. Minghao was the last to arrive, everybody else already setting up where to eat.

Their time at the company was spent mostly unproductively. They were their usual playful and boisterous selves. When they entered the practice room, Minghao separated from the group, sitting up against the wall with a book in hand. Wonwoo smirked as he watched him read quietly to himself. Every now and then he would lift his head to watch the group, especially during particularly loud moments. Getting up from his spot beside Hoshi, Wonwoo walked to his bag and took out his own book. He sat down next to Minghao who finished his paragraph before turning to him with a smile.

“Need something?” he asked, closing the pages around his finger to not lose his spot. Wonwoo shook his head.

“Just wanted to join the book club,” he joked as he motioned to the one in his hand. Minghao chuckled and nodded his head, quietly returning his attention back to his book. Following his lead, Wonwoo opened his book and began reading. The two of them read in peace, occasionally getting distracted from the other members. After Jeonghan had returned with the drinks he had promised, the older man glanced back to Minghao taking note of how many pages were left. “You’re almost done,” he pointed out. Minghao looked, realizing he only had a few pages to go.

“Oh, you’re right,” he gasped in shock. “I didn’t notice how fast I was getting through this.” The two returned to their silent reading, this time Minghao resting his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder. After a moment, he sighed and closed his book, sitting up properly once again. He watched the others interact, specifically checking on Jun and Mingyu who seemed at peace compared to earlier that morning.

“What was your book about?” Wonwoo asked, pointing at its back cover.

“It is about introspection and reconnecting with our inner selves and nature,” he said as he glanced through the pages. “Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my own emotions and how it has been affecting my interactions with others,” he added. His eyelids lowered into a soft gaze and his voice held a longing tone. Wonwoo stared with curiosity but knew better than to pry in a public area.

“Want to read this?” Wonwoo offered gesture to his own book.

“No, its fine. You’re reading it,” he smiled politely turning him down.

“I’ve read this multiple times now, I just keep it on me for when I’m bored,” he explained.

“Were you so bored of the others that you’d rather read with me?” Minghao giggled, bumping their shoulders together. Wonwoo laughed back as he looked away and shook his head.

“It’s not that I was bored with them; I would just much rather read with you anyways,” he winked causing Minghao to laugh loudly, playfully pushing his head away.

“Ah, you’re too much for me, Actor Jeon Wonwoo-ssi,” he praised.

“What? Who said I was acting? I’m serious,” he grinned, elbowing Minghao.

“What does the female lead normally do in situations like this?” he mused.

“ _Female_ lead? There’s no need for that,” Wonwoo smirked as he raised his eyebrows.

“Wah!” Minghao shouted covering his face from embarrassment, the two of them collapsing on each other in a fit of giggles. The younger member continued chuckling as he looked over to the book in Wonwoo’s hand. “What’s it about?” he asked, his amusement fading to a more controllable level. Wonwoo glanced at the cover and flipped through the pages rapidly.

“Soulmates, destiny, a bit too many time jumps,” he answered shortly.

“Like _Kimi no na wa_?” Minghao asked. Wonwoo laughed before shaking his head.

“Not at all actually. The book is about two people who are soulmates but are cursed to never be together. Every time they get reincarnated, there are different circumstances that prevent them from having a happy ending; either they remember each other too late in their lives or other specific reason,” he explained.

“While I do enjoy a good romance in my stories, I don’t know how much I’ll like one solely dedicated to it,” he replied.

“Don’t worry; it’s more about self-reflection and the meaning of being satisfied with our lives,” he assured.

“Does it have a happy ending?” Wonwoo paused as he stared at the cover for a long moment. Suddenly he smiled and reach the book out towards Minghao. The younger male stared at it hesitantly, before making eye contact with his friend.

“Only one was to find out,” he taunted. Shaking his head in disbelief, Minghao happily grabbed it.

“Let’s see where it goes; a new adventure is always fun,” he mused as he examined it. He agreed to start it at another time, preferring a much more calming environment to help him get immerse in the story. Although neither of them were reading anymore, they decided to stay at their spot away from the main group.

“So tell me, do you believe in soulmates?” Wonwoo questioned the two of them resting their heads on each other.

“Of course,” he answered without any need for thought. “However, I don’t think that soulmates have to only apply to romantic partners. A strong bond with a friend can be just as powerful as having a supportive lover,” he added.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to say you think Jun is your soulmate,” Wonwoo laughed.

“How dare you,” Minghao gasped, slapping Wonwoo’s thigh with force.

“But _My I_!” he shouted back, grabbing Minghao’s hand to prevent him from hitting him again.

“That’s just a song. I can’t believe you would suggest that; you’re so embarrassing,” he sighed back, lightly shaking his head under Wonwoo’s. Although he said that, parts of him always wonder if him and Jun were soulmates. They weren’t the most compatible, but he certainly enjoyed Jun’s presence. “What about you? What do you think about soulmates?” Minghao asked. Humming in thought, the Korean member stroked his thumb along the back of Minghao’s hand.

“I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of fate solely dictating who I’m destiny to be with. I want those in my life to be in my life because I have chosen them. That being said, I do think that certain people are naturally drawn to each other or just click better than others. As you said, you don’t necessarily have to be lovers. A soulmate is just someone who understands you in a way that no one else can,” he explained.

“Do you think you have met your soulmate?” Wonwoo stared at his fellow members with shining eyes. A grin spread from ear to ear in adoration as he watched them yell and scream with delight.

“I think you can have more than one soulmate; and I’d like to believe that all thirteen of us are,” he answered. Minghao gave a little scoff, a smile creeping along the corners of his lips.

“What a romantic,” he giggled. “But I would like to believe that too.” The two sat silently as they observed their group. Suddenly, Hoshi turned in their direction and called out to them.

“Unit meeting!” he yelled as he waved Minghao over. They both got up and stretched from sitting down for so long.

“Thank you for the book,” the younger member smiled. Wonwoo grinned back as he patted Minghao on the shoulder.

“Anytime; I have more I could recommend you,” he offered.

“I would like that,” he said with a nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

With a creek, Minghao heard his door open. He was starting the book that Wonwoo gave him the day before. As Wonwoo had described, the book really wasn’t about the romance, but the feelings of the characters and the complexity of the life fate had given them. He was greatly enjoying it. When he looked up, he met eyes with Mingyu who swiftly shut the door behind him. “I really need to ask you something and I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me,” Mingyu stated rushing over to take a seat in front of him. Minghao let out a series of unintelligible sounds as he sat up nicely and placed the book aside.

“Okay? What’s happening?” he said his voice high from confusion.

“You and Jun-hyung are really close, and he tells you stuff, right?” he asked. Still unsure of what was going on Minghao nodded slowly.

“I don’t know if he tells me everything, but I’d like to believe that we’re pretty open with one another,” he answered. Mingyu nodded, tilting his gaze down as he began rubbing his chin. “Can you just tell me what’s going on?” he insisted as Mingyu remained silent. “Is everything okay between you two?” he sighed. The taller member nodded immediately.

“Yea, we talked a lot last night and we’re fine…” Mingyu pushed his lips together and squinted his eyes at Minghao before letting out a loud sigh of his own. “Has… has he told you about him and Wonwoo kissing?” Minghao’s entire body went numb as his heart rose to his throat. He let out a dry cough and ran his fingers through his hair.

“What?” was all he could force out.

“So you have no clue either?” Minghao shook his head, his eyes wide and mouth open. “He didn’t mention it at all?”

“Nothing,” he replied still registering what he was told. “Are you sure they kissed? Who told you?” he asked.

“No one told me; I saw them—”

“Wait, if you saw them, why are you asking me?” he yelled, climbing out of his blankets. His entire body felt like it was overheating with shame and hurt.

“Because I want to know why!” he shouted back. The two of them stared at each other. They both felt the same range of emotions; anger, betrayal, and a desperate need for answers. “I thought that Jun might have mentioned it to you, and I wanted to see what he had to say about it. I’m too scared and too embarrassed to confront them directly,” he explained ruffling up his hair in frustration. Minghao’s body went slack, his usual perfect posture vanishing as his shoulders curled inward.

“Yea, no, he hasn’t mentioned anything to me,” he replied looking down. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Mingyu nod before letting out a deep breath. “How long ago was this?” he asked.

“Almost a week ago,”

“So before our…” Minghao let his words trailed off as he gestured between them. Blushing, Mingyu nodded. “Really now,” he mumbled to himself in Mandarin. He couldn’t be angry that Jun didn’t tell him; he hadn’t told Jun about his own thing with Mingyu either. That wasn’t to mention that what he did with Mingyu went well beyond just a kiss. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but feel hurt and a little jealous. “Have you asked anyone else if one of them told them?”

“Nope, no one,” he said. “I didn’t want to spread it around and I was honestly a little confident in thinking that Jun would’ve told you…” Minghao quickly shook his head. “I didn’t want to take the chance of me accidentally telling someone who didn’t know. On the off-chance that you somehow didn’t—which you actually didn’t—I felt like you were the most trustworthy person to tell,” he reasoned. Silence befell them as they both sat there contemplating. “Is there a chance that they’re secretly dating—?”

“No way,” Minghao answered straightaway. He had kissed Jun the morning before and he hadn’t stopped him or said anything about it. He knew for a fact that Jun wasn’t a cheater, so there was no chance that the two were dating. Both of them were quiet again. Minghao had no reason to be hurt or angry with Jun; he was the one who caught feelings in a strictly physical relationship. They had no obligations to each other. He also shouldn’t have felt ashamed for what he did with Mingyu.

But he did.

And he was upset that he was.

“I just made things really weird, huh?” Mingyu stated with a somber chuckle.

“No, its fine,” Minghao comforted.

“So what do we do now?” he asked.

“Nothing… there is nothing to do about the situation. It’s none of our business and it’s probably for the best if we don’t talk about it anymore. We really don’t know anything anyway,” he said with conviction. “It shouldn’t be important,” he added, trying to convince himself of those words. Little did he know, Mingyu sat in a similar boat as him, desperately wanting to believe what he said. Breaking his trance, Minghao grabbed Mingyu’s hand. He gave him a halfhearted smile and turned away again. Flustered, Mingyu observed Minghao who was too distracted to notice his stares. Maybe he didn’t need Wonwoo, he thought, but knew his heart wouldn’t drop his original crush so easily.

After several minutes of awkwardly trying to hold a conversation, Mingyu eventually left. Alone in his room, Minghao sighed as he slinked down and stared up at the ceiling blankly. He wasn’t allowed to be mad, he told himself again. They weren’t in an exclusive relationship and he accepted that. He picked up the book he had left off to the side and raised it above his head. “Soulmates, huh?” he hummed softly. He pulled the book back to his chest, rolling over onto his side while embracing it.

When talking with Wonwoo the day before, Minghao concluded he wasn’t compatible with Jun. They had always entertained the idea of being soulmates after working on _My I_ together, but he wasn’t sure how much of it was just for fun and how much of it was genuine. The two of them got along and they truly needed each other or at least the kind of relationship they had, even without the sex. Minghao needed someone to ground him when he first came to Korea and Jun needed someone to assure him that who he was as a person was fine. Even now, Jun was a person of comfort for him.

Although he considered Mingyu his other best friend, he wasn’t sure how well they worked either. Their similar personalities actually made it harder for them sometimes. They were both extremely compassionate, yet extremely stubborn people. Whenever their views didn’t match and they didn’t see eye-to-eye, all they would do was bicker and argue until somebody else stepped in. Yet he was also somebody he desperately couldn’t live without.

If he honestly thought about it, Wonwoo was probably the one he was most compatible with amongst all of the members. The two of them weren’t actually very close, not like how he was with some of the others. Minghao was comfortable with him, yes, but he wasn’t able to open up to him to the same extent as the others. Instead, the two of them had many similarities. Unlike both Jun and Mingyu, Wonwoo was a much more mild temperament. He was calmer. Minghao paused, realizing all the members he considered himself especially close to—Jun, Mingyu, Dokyeom, Hoshi—were all playful and energetic. He needed someone like Wonwoo in his life.

Minghao ended his line of thoughts as he opened his eyes and stared blankly at his wall. Jun and Wonwoo had kissed, for reasons he didn’t know and reasons he was too scared to ask. He could easily accept it if Jun was in love with Wonwoo, but at the same time he felt weird asking him so bluntly. Considering his own actions with Mingyu, he didn’t have the rights to be upset about it. Letting out a loud sigh, Minghao rolled onto his back. He should just end their relationship while he had the chance.

* * *

“Here are the options that Woozi-ssi gave me. All of them are just demos so we will tweak them where we want,” Hoshi stated as he opened the sound files given to him by their producer. Woozi was still trying to narrow down his plans for their title track. In the meantime, he gave each of the units samples of the contenders for their own song. The Performance Unit were the only ones in the practice room; the Vocal Unit was in Woozi’s studio, while the Hip-Hop Unit was at the recording room.

The four of them bobbed their head to the beat, occasionally jamming out to the tune. Minghao was slightly distracted, his mind not able to focus on the music as he sat shoulder-to-shoulder against Jun. At some point, he disassociated completely. “…The8-hyung!” Dino shouted; he had been calling his name for quite some time. Minghao jumped and looked to him in shock.

“What’s happening?” he asked, suddenly speaking Mandarin. Quickly, he covered his mouth. “What’s happening?” he repeated, this time in the correct language.

“Are you okay?” Jun said, wrapping his arm around Minghao and pulling him to his chest.

“Yea, I’m fine. Sorry,” he replied back, Dino and Hoshi frowning with concern.

“Are you sure?” Jun asked, this time in Mandarin. Minghao nodded his head, brushing off their worried expressions. The three continued to watch him carefully, but after a while of stubbornly stating he was alright, dropped the conversation and moved back to picking a song. For the most part, Minghao returned to normal, giving his personal break down of each track.

When they returned home, Dino climbed up the ladder to Jun’s bunk and hit him with no warning. “What are you doing?” Jun yelped as he pulled away, careful not to bump his head against the low ceiling. “I’m your hyung, who do you think you are to hit me?” he pouted ruffling Dino’s hair. Dino threw off his hand and groaned.

“What are you still doing here?” he huffed.

“This is my room?” the older male frowned in confusion. He didn’t understand what their maknae wanted from him.

“Go see Minghao-hyung! I’m worried about him,” he ordered.

“If you’re so worried, why don’t you check up on him—”

“Are you saying you’re not worried?” Dino snapped. Sighing, Jun pushed Dino off of the ladder and climbed down.

“I’ll be sleeping in his room,” he stated before exiting. Walking down the hall to the other Chinese member’s room, Jun entered without warning. Minghao glanced up and sighed as he closed his book and set it in his lap. Without saying anything, Jun combed his fingers through Minghao’s hair and kissed his forehead. Holding his hand, Jun took a seat beside him. “Mind if I spend the night?” he asked sweetly.

“Go ahead,” Minghao replied, feeling lightheaded with anxiety. He wanted to asked Jun about him and Wonwoo but didn’t know how. He wanted to tell him about himself and Mingyu but didn’t know how. He wanted to say anything but failed to muster his courage. The two chatted on and off, Minghao resuming his book. When they turned off the lights, the two of them cuddled. Minghao had his head on Jun’s arm, wrapped tightly in his embrace.

“Hey Minghao, are you asleep?” Jun whispered after several minutes of silence.

“I’m awake,” he replied. It was quiet again as Jun squeezed him in his arms.

“Can you tell me what has been bothering you?” Minghao sighed at his words as he pulled away and sat up in bed. “I’m sorry,” Jun said as he followed, crawling around so that he was in the middle of the bed in front of his friend. The younger member looked up to him and slowly pulled him close, pressing their lips together. Closing his eyes, Jun wrapped his arms around his waist. Their kisses were sweet and chaste, unlike their usually passionate ones. After a moment, Minghao sunk his head into the crook of Jun’s neck.

“This just proves that something is wrong. We only do these kinds of things when something is bothering us,” the taller male noted.

“Does it have to be like that? Why can’t we kiss for no reason?” Minghao asked. Jun didn’t answer, unsure of what Minghao meant by his question. “We should end this. We need to stop doing this,” Minghao stated when he never got a reply. Shocked, Jun pulled away, holding Minghao up by his shoulders.

“Why?” he almost shouted, catching himself and inhaling sharply. With his head still facing down, Minghao glanced up through his black lashes.

“We should have never had this sort of relationship to begin with. It’s dangerous and not right,” he said. His tone wasn’t necessarily angry, but his frustration began seeping through.

“Minghao-yah, you’ve been acting strange these past couple of days. Just talk to me. I’m starting to worry about you; we are all starting to worry about you,” Jun insisted. With a deep breath, Minghao shook his head.

“There’s nothing to talk about—”

“Liar!” Jun shook him, but immediately stopped and pulled his hands away. “Minghao-yah…” he repeated in almost a whisper. “Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you in any kind of way? Please just tell me,” he begged rubbing Minghao’s hand in comfort. Suddenly the smaller member snatched his hand away and grabbed ahold of Jun, forcing him down onto the bed. He held himself over him, pinning him down with his weight.

“It’s because I like—!” Minghao froze, choking on his words as he tried to force it out. He was scared to confess. Slowly he got up, folding inward on himself as he lost his confidence. “I like Wonwoo-hyung,” he lied as he thought about what Mingyu had told him. He watched as Jun sat up, his face blank.

“For how long?” he asked, carefully taking Minghao’s hand back in his.

“Not that long; I only recently realized it,” he answered still trying to read Jun’s expressions. Unexpectedly, he broke into a warm smile.

“I’ll always be here to support you, Minghao,” he assured. “I’ll help you in any way that I can. Please don’t feel bad for ending this and I’m sorry I forced this out of you,” he added as he hugged his friend tightly. Minghao went numb as he realized what he had done. He made things more complicated than it had to be out of his own fear and jealousy. One way or another, he did want to end their friends with benefits. He wanted to know if he loved Jun outside of the relationship they had created. But this wasn’t how he wanted to do it.

“Thank you,” was all he could uttered as his guilt began to eat at him. He was a fool.


	8. Chapter 8

When Jun woke up early in the morning, he was welcomed by a peaceful looking Minghao. A wide smile slipped along the edges of his lips. He had adored the younger member to no end. Everything he did left him in a state of awe, and he looked up to him. In his eyes, Minghao was perfect in every single way; looks, personality, talent, _everything_. With a gentle smile, Jun caressed his face and kissed the top of his head. Careful not to disturb his friend, Jun crawled out of the bed. He scribbled down a quick note on a piece of paper and placed it on the edge of the bed next to Minghao’s head before exiting the room.

When he returned to his original bedroom, he was surprise to see Dino awake and on his phone. Quickly, the younger member placed a finger to his lips as he motioned to a still sleeping Seungkwan. Jun nodded as he quietly grabbed his toiletries and a change of clothes, leaving to the bathroom. Jun was still dumbstruck to know that Minghao liked Wonwoo and felt a small bit of guilt that he coincidentally picked Minghao’s target of affection to test out the whole love thing. When he returned to his room, Seungkwan was still sleeping but Dino was moving around packing up his stuff. “I’m going to the company now with some of the hyungs, you coming?” he asked. Jun nodded and the two left downstairs to meet up with the other members.

“How’s Minghao-hyung?” Dino asked. For as much as he liked to act like a brat and annoy the others, he was always quick to show his concern.

“I think he’ll be okay,” he answered, unsure himself if that were true. He told Minghao that he would help him and support him with his crush, but he wasn’t really sure what he could do to help. “It’s adult business,” he added jokingly when he noticed Dino’s expression hadn’t change.

“You can’t say that! I’m an adult now too!” he scoffed, playfully pushing Jun who giggled gleefully and changed the topic to poking fun at the maknae. When they met up with the others—S.coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Joshua—the six of them headed down to board the car.

“Dokyeomie is going to freak out when he realizes he’s all alone in the dorm,” Joshua laughed.

“It’s okay, I already texted Jeonghannie and Soonyoungie to take care of the remaining kids,” S.coups stated. The present Hip-Hop Unit took one van while Joshua, Dino, and Jun took the other. The two older members spent most of the time teasing Dino until they arrived at the company. Instead of going to the main practice room that they hung out in, Jun went to a separate one to ease his mind. He plugged in his phone and blasted music, dancing freely to the sound of the beat.

He felt oddly stressed about Minghao’s crush and he couldn’t understand why. He had seen that same distracted expression on Minghao’s face throughout their years together. He came to know it as the look Minghao had when he had a problem with himself. Jun was worried that this crush would literally crush him. He knew Minghao was concern about love lately, but he hadn’t thought about him _actually_ being in love.

Out of breath from dancing so aggressively, Jun laid starfish-ed on the ground. There was only one way he could think to help Minghao, although the younger Chinese member would probably kill him for it later. Jun went to his phone and texted Wonwoo to come find him. Within minutes, the Hip-Hop Unit member arrived. “What do you need?” he questioned.

“Minghao has a crush on you,” he said bluntly. Wonwoo choked on his breath of air as he started coughing violently.

“What?” he hollered in shock, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I know I shouldn’t be telling you, but I need you to know: Minghao likes you,” he repeated. Rearranging his glasses, Wonwoo looked away. When the two of them talked about soulmates, he hadn’t gotten any vibes that Minghao thought of him in that way. In general, he had never had any reason to think Minghao would like him. “I’m only tell you this because I don’t want you to hurt him. If you don’t like him then that’s totally fine, but I won’t let you hurt him,” Jun stated calmly.

Wonwoo stared at Jun dumbly, still not able to fully register what was going on. While it was certainly weird for him that the person he actually liked was telling him that somebody else had a crush on him, he was a little happy to hear it. His confusion with Mingyu made him question whether he was competent enough in love. “No reply?” Jun questioned after a while of Wonwoo staring in silence.

“It’s just that… I had no clue,” he finally said breathlessly. He was amazed.

“Well is there someone you like?” Jun asked. Wonwoo paused as he really thought about his answer. He liked Mingyu on and off for years and it wasn’t until recently that he found himself attracted to a new person. However, based on Jun’s actions now, he was confident that Jun didn’t feel the same. His heart ached slightly at the unofficial rejection.

“It’s really complicated,” Wonwoo mumbled. And it really was. He had never liked two people so deeply before. Usually when he gained feelings for someone new, his old crush would fade away, but he was confident that his feelings for Mingyu hadn’t faded. Jun nodded at the answer, accepting it for what it was.

“Just don’t hurt him,” he repeated once again.

“Of course, I would never hurt him if I could help it,” he assured. Suddenly the door swung open and Hoshi poked his head in. The other two jumped at his unexpected presence, Jun even letting out a shriek of fear. 

“We’re having a meeting for the sidetracks,” he informed, giggling at the fact that he startled them. “We’ll be in the conference room; be there soon,” he added poking his head right back out. The two looked at each other before mutually deciding that the conversation was over and hurrying out. When they entered the room, everyone was still filing in for a seat. Wonwoo paused for a moment before he took at seat next to Minghao. Minghao turned to him happily and greeted him.

“I haven’t finished the book you lent me, but I’m enjoying it a lot so far,” he said.

“I’m glad.” The two casually talked about the book and other stories that they each should read. Everyone quieted down as, Woozi entered the room. S.coup’s arm was wrapped around him as he aggressively rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The overall discussion took hours and by the time they finally finished, everyone was exhausted. They had gone through each unit’s pick, as well as other sidetracks and whether or not they were doing special units again. They had their managers order them food and the thirteen of them sat in their usual practice room chatting away.

“You need more sleep, Woozi-hyung,” Seungkwan lectured as the older member quickly scarfed down his portion of food.

“He’s been coming home at three, four in the morning. Somedays he sleeps in the studio,” Mingyu shouted, throwing him under the bus.

“If I don’t work, you guys are out of a job too,” he replied nonchalantly. He sat slumped against Joshua as he ate. The older member occasionally patted him on the head and handed him more food. Woozi happily accepted the food, too tired to reject the physical affection.

“While none of us want that to happen, we also don’t want you passing out or over working yourself,” their leader hummed. The rest of lunch was spent rather lively. For Woozi sakes, they agree to have tomorrow off, also allowing the units more time to work on their songs. After they finished eating, Minghao and Woozi had a private meeting over his lyrics and potential special unit song. Hoshi went off by himself to another practice room. The Hip-Hop unit met briefly to discuss the concept of their new song, but soon split to write their own parts.

Wonwoo wandered down the hallway of the company before entering the practice room where Hoshi was. The Performance Unit’s song that they had just picked was blasting through the speakers as Hoshi stood in the center of the room freestyling to it. Catching sight of Wonwoo’s reflection in the mirror, he immediately stopped and went over to pause the music. “Came to watch the magic happened?” he jeered.

“First off: ew, gross, don’t say it like that. Second: no. You’re my best friend and I need some advice.” Hoshi bubbled with laughter and nodded his head enthusiastically.

“Flattering me and calling me your best friend only when you want my help, I see how it is,” he teased. He queued up some music before sitting in the middle of the room and motioning Wonwoo to follow him. “So what’s on your mind?” Hoshi mused, pretending to write on his hand like a therapist. Already annoyed with his closest confidant, Wonwoo sprawled out on the floor in mental exhaustion and gave a roar of pent up confusion. Carefully, Hoshi crawled over and laid across his stomach making a plus sign with their bodies. “You really can’t ask me for my help on something and then ask nothing at all,” Hoshi frowned after several minutes of them laying in silence.

“I’m thinking,” Wonwoo replied as he forced himself back up, Hoshi tumbling down onto his thighs. “I should just be blunt,” he murmured to himself, cradling his head in his hands. The dancer looked up at him from his spot on the floor, curious to know what his friend had to say. “Does… does The8 ever talk about me?” he asked, his face immediately burning red as the words left his mouth. Hoshi burst into another fit of laughter, curling in on himself as he held his stomach. “Oh shut up!” Wonwoo shouted pushing him off.

“What the hell?” Hoshi giggled trying to calm himself down. He sat up and wiped away the tears from his eyes. “Why do you ask?” he snorted.

“Just answer the stupid question,” he groaned, covering his face in embarrassment.

“Well, he talks about you, but not any more than he does the others. I honestly don’t think you guys are very close in his eyes. Although, he did mention you lent him a book recently,” Hoshi replied, finally getting serious. “Why do you ask?” he repeated.

“I found out he likes me—” Once again, Hoshi exploded into a roar of laughter. Wonwoo rolled his eyes in annoyance as he began shaking Hoshi violently. “Shut. Up!” he hissed through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry,” he wailed, hastily wiping the corner of his eyes again. “It’s just so funny to me. I don’t know who you heard it from—or if you’re coincided enough to come to that conclusion on your own—but I’m pretty sure Minghao is in love with none other than our other Chinese extraordinaire, Moon Junhui,” he said with a smirk.

“Funny, because Junhui was the one who told me.” Hoshi’s smile dropped as he blinked in shocked.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” He paused for a moment as he looked back and forth at nothing in particular, trying his hardest to register his thoughts.

“But I could’ve sworn he liked Jun. I thought it was obvious,” he muttered still in disbelief. Wonwoo scoffed and rolled his eyes again.

“Not everyone is as obvious with their crush as you are with Jihoon,” he mocked.

“I’m obvious on purpose!” he yelled back, pointing a finger to Wonwoo. “And why the hell do you care if Minghao likes you, I thought you liked Mingyu still?” he questioned.

“I don’t really know. I’ve liked him for so long, but nothing has ever really happened between us. It’s not like my feelings have gone away or anything, but at this rate it doesn’t hurt me to try and work things out with other people,” he replied. Although their conversation was about him and Minghao, Wonwoo couldn’t help but to think about Jun as well. “I want to know what you think I should do,” he stated. Hoshi hummed with discontent before shaking his head.

“I get your side but do realize we’re planning our comeback now and Minghao is playing a huge part with choreographing and even writing a song this time around. You have every rights to explore your chance with him, but if you think it’s not going to work, just be upfront. As long as you’re honest, he’ll take the rejection well,” Hoshi advised, patting his friend’s shoulder. “Also, if you dare to hurt my dongsaeng, you will have another thing coming,” he warned, squeezing Wonwoo firmly.

“He’s my dongsaeng too—”

“But I’m his leader; he is my literal responsibility,” he said, cutting him off. “I’m serious Wonwoo. I can’t afford to see him get hurt,” he added as he pulled his hand away.

“I understand. I am trying to avoid hurting him at all cost anyways,” he sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thursday's update will be a side chapter that's mostly unrelated to the plot! Also I want to start doing song recommendations at the end of every chapter!
> 
> Song rec: "기억 속 한 권의 책 (A book in Memory)" by ONEWE


	9. Bonus Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a SoonHoon bonus chapter! If you don't like SoonHoon you don't have to read this, it has very little effect on the plot of the main story!

Hoshi laid out of breath in the middle of the practice room. The Performance Unit’s song was left on repeat as he focused on the rising and falling of his chest. He was exhausted and his body was sore. Scrambling to his feet, he staggered over to his phone. He turned off the music and checked the time: it was around eleven-thirty. The other members had left several hours ago back to their dorms. Swinging his arms back and forth to stretch, Hoshi wandered over to Woozi’s studio. Without a knock, he entered the room. Woozi’s back was towards him and he could hear the smaller member mumbling to himself while music played from the speakers. 

“Woozi-yah,” Hoshi called sweetly, leaning his body against the back of Woozi’s chair. “It’s getting late, we should probably leave now and go home,” he said with a yawn. Woozi muttered something back but was too engross with his work to form coherent sentences. “Woozi-yah,” he repeated this time with more persistence. “You heard everyone at lunch; you’re overworked. You need to rest,” he insisted.

“Can’t. Everyone wants a day off tomorrow. If I don’t work tonight, then I’ll be behind,” he grumbled, although he began rubbing his eyes.

“That’s not true. You always get things done. I bet you’re ahead of schedule as it is,” Hoshi encouraged. “You need to stop working so late,”

“You’re here working late too,” Woozi retorted.

“Well I stopped,” he pouted. It was true. Now that they had picked their songs, Hoshi was determined to get the basis of the choreography figured out. Nonetheless, he knew his body limits—for now that is. “Jihoon!” Hoshi shouted.

“A few more hours—” Abruptly, Hoshi yanked Woozi’s chair back, rolling him several feet away. He swiftly saved his friends progress before shutting down the computer. “I was working on that!” Woozi yelled, jumping to his feet and rushing to his desk. Hoshi blocked his way, forcing back into his chair.

“I’ve been watching you for the past few minutes, you weren’t getting anything done,” Hoshi snapped. Woozi let out an exhausted sigh as he threw his head back and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “If you don’t want to sleep, fine. But I’m not letting you work anymore. You need a self-care day,” he declared.

“I hate going out and you know that,” Woozi hissed.

“Who said anything about going out?” Hoshi hummed back as he pulled Woozi up by the arm. He led the lead vocalist to his couch and sat him down. “Take a nap while I sort things out. I’ll wake you up in an hour,” he instructed.

“If I sleep now, I can’t promise I’ll wake up,” Woozi mumbled as he got on his back, getting comfortable. Hoshi took off his sweater and bundled it into a pillow for his friend.

“Now you’re okay with sleeping,” he mocked. Swiftly Woozi hit him, Hoshi jumping back with a yelp. “Go to sleep,” Hoshi huffed as he stroked Woozi’s hair. Weakly, he slapped at Hoshi’s hand, but soon feel asleep to his touch. Happily, Hoshi moved to Woozi’s desk chair and pulled out his phone to text their managers. As promised, Hoshi woke him up after an hour. Woozi moaned in protested, throwing off Hoshi’s hand.

“Get lost,” he muttered tiredly.

“If you want to sleep, let’s at least return to our dorms,” the taller male insisted. Groaning, Woozi sat up on the couch and rubbed his eyes. When they finally focused, he saw two cups of ramyeon on the table with various bags of snacked chips. He blinked in shock as he turned to a smiling Hoshi. “Eat! One of them is mine though,” he beamed. As Woozi began eating, Hoshi struggled with the TV. For a moment the producer watched him before letting out a sigh.

“Want some help?”

“Nope, I got it,” he replied back, cluelessly clicking away. Eventually, the screen flickered on and Hoshi gave out a triumphant cheer, Woozi chuckling to himself. As the video started to play, Woozi couldn’t help but smile at the familiar art style.

“Of course you played this,” he teased as Hoshi sat next to him and began eating too.

“I wanted to play a _Marvel_ movie, but they’re all pretty long so I decided to watch anime instead. It was either this or _Naruto_. But since we’re planning our new album, I decided that _Full Moon wo Sagashite_ was more fitting,” he explained with a wide grin.

“How considerate,” he smirked, half joking. As the opening came on, the two of them sang happily together. They watched a couple of episodes, devouring their snacks in a matter of minutes. Hesitantly, Hoshi wrapped his arm around Woozi who placed his head onto his friend’s shoulder in response. An uncontrollable grinned painted itself onto Hoshi’s lips as he happily sat cuddled with his best friend. After they finished, Hoshi walked over and turned off the TV, cleaning up the table as well.

“Come on, let’s go,” he ordered, grabbing ahold of Woozi’s wrist.

“Are we going back already?” he asked a little disappointed.

“Nope, not yet. We’re going out,” Hoshi said.

“Didn’t I say I don’t like going out?” Although he was verbally protesting, he allowed himself to get dragged away easily. As they neared the entrance of the company’s building, a staff member handed Hoshi a pair of keys.

“I’m driving,” he smiled to a confused Woozi. With a small smile of his own, Woozi nodded his head and followed him into the parking lot.

“You sure you should be driving? It’s really late, not to mention you haven’t done it in a while,” he teased.

“Just trust me.” The two of them got in the car and buckled up. As they drove through the night, Hoshi adamantly refused to tell Woozi where they were going, although, he assured him he wouldn’t have to interact with others. Unable to get it out of him, Woozi dropped the conversation. “You can sleep if you want. I will wake you up when we get there,” Hoshi offered. The shortest member shook his head as he gazed out into the city lights.

“You keep lecturing me about sleep, but you haven’t slept at all,” he scoffed.

“I’m fine—”

“If I said that, you would call me a liar and continue pestering me,”

“Well, I’m not tired yet—”

“Still would call me a liar.” Hoshi sighed but didn’t continue trying to defend himself. “Once the other choreographers are ready to work with us, you’ll never sleep. You’ll be dancing and choreographing twenty-four seven. All you’re going to think about is the routine,” Woozi went on. While Hoshi wouldn’t admit it, Woozi was right. The two of them were the same when it came to work. Hoshi quickly changed the topic to something more lighthearted and Woozi allowed him to, not wanting to ruin the mood.

“We’re here!” Hoshi shouted enthusiastically as he pulled into a parking lot. Woozi couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the familiar gym.

“You’re inviting me to work out for once? What happened to relaxing?” he teased as the two of them approached the entrance.

“No going all out; this is just for fun. I know you like exercising, so I thought we’d play something for a bit,” he replied putting his arm around his friend. As they entered, Hoshi went to the front desked and rented out a soccer ball. “Go easy on me,” he joked as the two entered the indoor field. They played for barely thirty minutes, before Hoshi collapsed on the floor. “I think I’m dying,” he laughed, rolling around on the ground.

“You’re just weak,” the producer teased as he crouched down beside him.

“You can’t say that! You sat down and worked on composing. I was moving about and dancing!” he shouted, halfheartedly swing at his friend. Woozi snorted as he got up and began kicking the ball against an exhausted Hoshi. A few more minutes passed until Hoshi finally sat back up. “Next place,” he mumbled as he stretched. Woozi pulled him up and the two of them returned the ball, heading back towards the car.

“Where to next?” Woozi asked.

“Another secret. Did you really think I would tell you?” Hoshi giggled.

“It was worth a try,” he replied with a pleased smile. He gazed out the window, taking in the view of the city lights against the night sky. It was beautiful. The world looked like it was shimmering calmly like the stars. “This is nice; us hanging out and getting to relax. I wished we could do this more often,” he hummed absent mindedly to himself. Hoshi let out a cheeky giggle and quickly glanced at him.

“So, are you saying that my self-care day was actually a smart idea?” he taunted. Scoffing, Woozi shook his head before setting eyes on the moon and stars.

“You did good,” he said. Hoshi blushed from the praise and quietly nodded his head.

“You know, if you got your license, you could go out like this more often without having to spend so much money,” he noted. He could hear Woozi suppress his laughter.

“Oh please, why do I need to drive when I have you?” he turned to Hoshi with a teasing grin and Hoshi blushed even more. When the two of them pulled up to the all-you-can-eat barbeque restaurant, Woozi’s eyes grew big as he excitedly turned to Hoshi.

“It’s all on me,” Hoshi stated as he got out of the car, Woozi eagerly following after him. The two of them got seated in a private room and began grilling the meat and sides as they arrived. At first, the two of them talked about their members, sharing anecdotes of things that they’ve done together. Slowly, their conversation changed to their past comebacks and their hopes for their current one.

“As much as I love doing a full album, its exponentially more pressure compared to a mini one. Coming up with so many songs, composing and writing different lyrics…” Woozi sighed and shook his head in dismay. “What a pain in the ass,” he muttered. “Although, I guess if anyone knows how I feel it would be you, Mr. Choreographer,” he smirked as he lifted his gaze to his friend. Hoshi grinned at his words as he flipped over the cooking meat.

“Ask me in a few days when the stress really hits me,” he joked.

“I’m glad that a lot of the members have decided to help out with creating lyrics, but I’m still… it’s not that I don’t have any faith in them—I trust their abilities—I’m just worried… does that make any sense?” he asked, started to eat.

“I understand. It’s like when I have the other Performance Unit members help me with choreographing or when they decided to do it completely on their own. I know it’ll be amazing—because everyone in our group is talented—yet I can’t help but feel a sense of unease when I’m not the one taking control,” he explained, Woozi shaking his chopsticks in agreement as he chewed his food. The two went back and forth, consulting and comforting each other over their sense of responsibilities.

“Ah really, what would I do without you?” Woozi hummed, giving a small shake of his head at just the thought of being alone in this process. Blushing, Hoshi smiled softly.

“You know that I love you, right Woozi-yah?” Hoshi stated watching Woozi as he ate.

“Of course I know, Hoshi,” he replied without even looking up. Hoshi’s heart suddenly panged and he cleared his throat. He paused for a moment before setting down his bowl and chopsticks.

“Then… do you know that I love you Jihoonie?” Woozi stopped eating as he lifted his face to Hoshi. He didn’t say anything as he lowered his head back down, beginning to eat again.

“Of course I know, Soonyoung-ah,” he mumbled softly, Hoshi breaking out into another blushing smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays to anybody who's celebrating! 
> 
> Song rec: "U R" by Monsta X


	10. Chapter 10

“Have you finished the book?” Wonwoo asked walking up to Minghao. As his friend approached him, the dancer sat up and smiled. He was laying in the grass outside of the company’s building. His mind had been all over the place, so he made excuses to sit out for a while. He shook his head as they wrapped their arms around each other as a hello.

“I’ve been focused on writing the song,” he answered, which was true. He had completed his first draft of the lyrics, but a draft was only a draft. He had been so keen on finishing it and revising it that he hadn’t touched the book since his conversation with Jun. “Do you mind if I keep it for a little while longer?” Wonwoo grinned at Minghao’s bashful expression and ruffled up his hair.

“I don’t mind at all.” Minghao smiled back at him as he gave him a light squeeze. The two of them discussed books and shows as usual, but slowly they started discussing the other members and their hopes for this new comeback. “How’s the new song going by the way?” the older member asked. Minghao groaned in disgust, before giving an annoyed force smile. “Not well?” he laughed as he hugged him.

“It’s actually not going terribly, but it’s definitely not up to my own standards,” he sighed. “Woozi even say it sounded okay—”

“That’s great—”

“Followed by, but it feels flat…”

“Oh,” Wonwoo whispered sympathetically. “What kind of feeling are you going for? What’s the story behind it?” he asked, attempting to help inspire Minghao.

“That love is confusing and unpredictable,” he stated. After his conversation with Jeonghan and the current mess he was in—trying to figure whether he was in love with Jun and now possibly Mingyu—he needed an outlet. Yet, his fear and self-consciousness prevented him from being completely open and vulnerable in his lyrics. He knew his song lacked feeling because he was the one too scared to put it in.

“Let me have a look at them,” Wonwoo said. Minghao gave him a skeptical glance.

“I’d rather not; not until I fix them,” he mumbled.

“I understand, I’m here to help if you need me,” he assured. Minghao glowed with affection and appreciation as he nodded enthusiastically at the offer. He was glad he was getting closer to Wonwoo, although he did feel guilty for using him as his scapegoat with Jun.

As days went by, Wonwoo visited Minghao’s room as often as possible and sat beside him during meals and meetings. The two of them talked about various things, Wonwoo always giving Minghao advice. While the Chinese member genuinely did appreciate the company and concern, he was beginning to think it wasn’t a coincidence. After entering the practice room late, he watched as Wonwoo got up and walked over to him. Above that, he noticed Jun glancing over. Turning to his fellow dancer, Minghao glared.

“Did you tell him?” he barked in Mandarin.

“You’re crazy,” Jun replied back, looking away.

“Whether I’m crazy or not doesn’t answer whether you did,” he said, his tone obviously irritated. Wonwoo stared in confusion between the two, unable to understand the conversation. “Jun-ge—”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said quickly. “I only ever want to help you, Minghao,” he added with genuine concern. Minghao scoffed and closed his eyes.

“Fine, don’t admit to it. I’d rather not be mad at you anyways,” his tone drifted away from its frustration into sullen calmness. Minghao took a deep breath before meeting eyes with Jun. “Thank you for worrying about me. I’m happy that you are trying to help in some way, but… I didn’t ask for this help,” he stated firmly. Jun nodded his head.

“I understand.” The two of them stared into each other’s eyes before Jun finally turned away, walking over to the other members.

“Is everything okay?” Wonwoo asked as he watched the interaction awkwardly.

“Yea, I’m sorry about that,” he muttered in embarrassment.

“Don’t be,” he assured with a gentle smile. The group was eventually split into their units, ready to go through their song together. Dino sat awkwardly between the two Chinese member, snapping his neck back and forth between them. The Leader Line were having a pre-meeting with one another, so only the three of them sat in the practice room. Minghao continuously ran his fingers through his hair unconsciously, while Jun laid on his stomach, his head on top of his folded arms.

“Hoshi-hyung and I got the lyrics approved by Woozi-hyung. It’ll probably go through a few more revisions before the final product, but it’s enough that we can start solidifying the choreo,” the maknae stated, trying to break the silence.

“That’s good,” Minghao said, Jun humming in response.

“So how are your lyrics going, The8-hyung?” he asked instead. Minghao mumbled in distressed before shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair again. Dino sighed as he nodded his head in defeat. They continued to sit in their silence until Hoshi arrived, Dino praising his presences.

* * *

In the recording studio, Vernon and Wonwoo sat alone together. S.coups was in the meeting with Leader Line and Mingyu had left earlier that morning with Seungkwan to go to a variety show shooting. As the faces of Seventeen, it wasn’t rare for them to leave for individual schedules. The two of them chatted mindlessly about nothing, both of them being on the quieter end. Eventually, Vernon suggested swapping lyrics, to which Wonwoo happily agreed.

“Your lyrics are sad,” Vernon hummed as he read Wonwoo’s rap.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the older male said, taking the notebook back.

“I mean, I know they’re not always the cheeriest but… I don’t know,” he shrugged spinning back and forth on the chair as Wonwoo sat across from him on the couch. “When you find out someone is in love with you, aren’t you normally supposed to be happy?” he asked.

“Not all the time,” Wonwoo murmured under his breath. Vernon tweaked his head to the side as he frowned, his brows furrowing and nose scrunching. “While it’s nice to know that you’re loved, life isn’t always perfect in that way. Just because someone is in love with you, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re in love with them too. We can’t always return the feelings we are given. That being said, just because I don’t love them in that way, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt me to reject them; I could still care about them deeply in a nonromantic way,” he explained. Vernon watched as Wonwoo hung his head, rubbing his thumb into his other palm in deep contemplation.

“Are you speaking from experience?” the younger member asked. While the whole thing could have been a coincidence, Vernon was afraid that Wonwoo knew of Mingyu’s crush. Mingyu had been acting weirder than usual the past two weeks and he knew something had to be up. Yet the older male was too stubborn—or possibly too scared—to open up about what was wrong. If Wonwoo knew about Mingyu’s crush and didn’t reciprocate his feelings, then it would answer everything. Wonwoo grumbled and scratched the back of his head before he tilted it back and looking up at the ceiling.

“I recently found out that Minghao likes me.” Vernon choked on his breath; that was not what he was expecting. Far from it actually.

“And you don’t like him back?” Vernon questioned.

“Haven’t decided,” he sighed, covering his eyes with his arm. The door clicked open and the two of them flinched. S.coups jumped in returned when he saw their terrified eyes.

“What?” he asked looking behind him in fear.

“Nothing; you just scared us,” Vernon let out the breath he was holding in and waved their leader over, getting ready to start their meeting.

* * *

Alone in his shared room with Hoshi, Vernon laid on his bed while on his phone. He heard the sound of the front door clicking open and he hastily dashed out into the hallway. His eyes met with Seungkwan who smiled and put a finger to his lips. “Quiet for the neighbors,” he stated as he took off his coat and shoes. “Did you come to greet me?” he asked teasingly.

“Sure,” Vernon replied, quickly giving him a hug and rushing out of the dorm.

“Where are you going?”

“Don’t worry! I’ll be back!” he whisper-shouted over his shoulder, leaving Seungkwan puzzled and alone in the entrance hall. Vernon darted down several flights of stairs and let himself into the 1st dorm. As he walked in, Wonwoo turned to him with bewilderment. “I’ll leave soon,” he mused instinctively, showing himself to Mingyu’s room. When he opened the door, Mingyu jumped and immediately ducked behind one of his closet’s doors. When their eyes met, his body relaxed.

“What the hell, Hansol-ah? What are you doing here?” he pouted. Without a word, Vernon closed the door behind him and hurried over to his friend.

“I have bad news,” he whispered, as he wrapped an arm around the taller male and pulled him closer.

“Okay?” Mingyu replied in confusion, unsure of what was going on. He was exhausted from the shoot and less than capable of figuring out what was going on for himself.

“I found out from Wonwoo-hyung today that…” Vernon paused. Noticing the distraught look on his friend’s face, Mingyu’s heart dropped and he held his breath. While he had seen Wonwoo and Jun kissed, he was afraid to hear that it was true. He hadn’t fully prepared himself for the idea that Wonwoo never really liked him back in the same way that he liked him. “I heard that Minghao likes Wonwoo—”

“What?” Mingyu gasped, yanking himself away from Vernon and causing the younger male to lose balanced. Mingyu froze. This was worse than what he was expecting. His new crush literally had a crush on his old crush and there was a chance that his old crush—who he thought had liked him back—never liked him to begin with. While he did notice that Minghao was upset about Wonwoo and Jun kissing, he assumed it was because he was hurt by Jun not telling him. He hadn’t expected Minghao to like Wonwoo in that sort of way.

Suddenly, Mingyu recalled something. During the drunken night between him and Minghao, Minghao mentioned that his heart belonged to somebody else. At the time he didn’t think much of it, but in this moment his heart ached. Could he have possibly been talking about Wonwoo this entire time? “Do you know how hyung feels about him?” he questioned, still unable to fully grasp everything. Vernon shook his head.

“No, he said he wasn’t very sure either,” he explained. Mingyu stared blankly at the wall. It was too much for him to comprehend all at once.

“I’m exhausted, Hansol—”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just thought it would be good for me to tell you right away. I know something has been upsetting you lately and I didn’t want you finding this out later and getting even more hurt is all,” he sighed, giving Mingyu a small hug which he didn’t reciprocate.

“You don’t even know,” he mumbled softly, reflecting on his feelings towards Minghao.

“I will leave you to get ready for bed. Once again, I’m really sorry for dropping this on you,” Vernon frowned as he placed his hand on Mingyu’s shoulder. The taller male reached for his hand and held it softly.

“Don’t apologize. You only have good intentions,” he gave a weak smile back and Vernon appreciated the attempt of reassuring him. They gave each other small head bows of acknowledgment before saying their goodnights, Vernon returning to his dorm afterwards. Humming in distressed, Mingyu slumped against the steps to his bed. Now what? Get his heart broken twice?


	11. Chapter 11

The following morning, everyone could tell that Mingyu was out of touch. He was much more sullen compared to his usual energetic self. While it wasn’t a surprise when he would get serious, it was always a shock when his spirit was done. Majority of the members checked in with him, but he continued to pass it off as just being exhausted from yesterday’s shoot. Vernon apologized every opportunity he got, but Mingyu forgave him each time, telling him he wasn’t the cause of his current grief.

From across the practice room, Jun watched him. Although he wanted to approach the rapper, parts of him felt like it was none of his business. He knew that Mingyu wanted to keep his matters private until he could face them on his own, but at the way things seem to be going, it didn’t seem likely. During lunch, Mingyu left to buy a drink. Wonwoo attempted to call out to him but froze when Jun grabbed his shoulder. “I’ll talk to him,” he stated before chasing after the tallest member.

“What’s up with him lately?” Minghao mumbled, his lips curling downward into a frown.

“Don’t worry about him too much; he’s just tired,” Vernon stated, trying to cover for his friend. The other members quickly changed the conversation, realizing that dwelling on the matter could only make things worse.

As Mingyu walked down the hallway, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Suddenly, a pair of hands dropped on his shoulder. With a shriek, he leaped forward and whirled around. Bursting into laughter, Jun smirked at a hunched over Mingyu. Mingyu let out a small smile at the older member and stood up straight. “You scared me,”

“I could tell,” Jun teased as he elbowed him. “Come on, we’re getting a drink, right?” he asked pointing down the corridor towards where the vending machines were. Mingyu nodded as he followed closed behind him, his head hung in contemplation. “Don’t think too hard or you will hurt your brain,” the older male said, patting Mingyu’s head. Mingyu pouted, thrashing his head aggressively to throw off his hand.

“Says you,” he muttered, Jun still grinning away.

“You know,” he hummed, slowing his pace to walk beside his friend. “I would never pry without you wanting me to, but I have to ask: is it the same thing as before?” Jun questioned. His tone was suddenly serious, and his eyes were set in front of him. Curling inward on himself, Mingyu let out a disappointed breath of air.

“Yes, but with more things on top of that,” he grumbled softly. A smirk tugged at Jun’s lips as he hugged Mingyu’s arm.

“Haven’t sorted your feelings yet?”

“No.” Jun nodded his head sympathetically as they reached the vending machine.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he questioned, releasing Mingyu’s arm as he punched in the number for his own beverage. Mingyu shook his head.

“It’s my own problem,” he assured.

“I know, but I’m still here for you,” he stated. Mingyu gave him a warm smile, stepping forward to give him a tight embrace. Surprised by his suddenly show of affection, Jun held onto him in return. The two stood there in silence as Mingyu continued to cling to him, not yet ready to let go. As they hugged, Jun could feel his heart rapidly beat, to the point where he felt it pounding in his ears. Embarrassed and unsure of why, he buried his face into Mingyu’s neck. “I’m always here for you,” he whispered softly.

“I know.” The two of them pulled away and Mingyu looked ready to cry. His lips were forced into a tense fake smile and his eyes were shiny with pre-fallen tears. Quickly, he wiped them away before they could start pooling out. “I’m okay now,” he said, taking a deep breath as if to convince himself. Jun held his hand and grinned.

“You’re okay now,” he echoed with encouragement. Out of nowhere, Mingyu bubbled into laughter, covering the bottom half his face with his free hand.

“You’re so cool, hyung. Since when were you this responsible?” he laughed, embarrassed by his own vulnerability. Scoffing, Jun hit him on the arm and started walking back to the practice room.

“Don’t forget, I used to take care of you!” he shouted in offense, pointing an accusative finger at the tallest member.

“Yea, but now you’re like a kid,” Mingyu teased, following after him.

“How dare you! I am still your hyung!” he gasped, clutching his chest as if he had been wounded. The two of them joked and laughed their entire way back. When they reentered the room, Mingyu was back to his usual cheerful and energetic self. Nobody questioned it, too afraid they would accidentally ruin his mood again. Jun’s body felt a rush of warmth seeing Mingyu return to his playful attitude. A wide smile broke across his lips—and while he always had a goofy grin painted on—this one felt different. He felt completely enamored by his fellow member and he immediate knew why.

He was falling in love.

* * *

Panting heavily, Minghao leaned back against his arms and stared up at the ceiling. He attempted to talk to an obviously distraught Mingyu earlier that day, but the taller member was adamant that he was alright. After lunch, he was relieved to see that he was actually doing much better. “That’s enough for now,” Hoshi stated, clapping his hands together to signal the momentary end of their practice. Minghao was too deep in thought to notice Dino crawled over. The maknae placed his head on Minghao’s lap, surprising him and triggering a light chuckle.

“Good work! You did well!” Dokyeom and Seungkwan complimented as they suddenly appeared, handing each of them a water bottle. Minghao smiled wordlessly, still trying to catch his breath. The four of them moved to the side of the room, Dino leaning his head against Minghao’s shoulder after he finished drinking.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be working on something?” Dino questioned as Minghao placed his head on top of his to rest too. Seungkwan shook his head in response.

“We were helping Woozi with lyrics for the rest of the songs on the album—”

“BooSeokSoon will be releasing their single separately a couple months after the album,” Dokyeom stated, cutting off the other main vocalist. “We’re still doing special units though,” he added starting to hum the tune to their new song.

“Did he say how the group was going to be split?” Minghao asked. Even though he was one of the people writing the songs for the special units, he had no clue who was going to be singing in it. Although they were usually good at having things sorted, it was still undetermined who was going to be place where.

“Woozi said he’s trying to figure it out soon. Including your song, there should be a total of four special units again,” Seungkwan explained. The two dancers nodded. The four of them talked for a bit before going back to work.

In the late evening, everyone returned to the dorm—the Leader Line staying behind to discuss other matters. Alone in his room, Minghao pulled out his lyrics and the book Wonwoo lent him. For a moment, he stared between the two, looking back and forth in contemplation. With a sigh, he picked up the book and moved out to the common area. He took a seat on the bed in the living room and began reading it. Members passed by him every so often, striking up a conversation as they did. Hoshi arrived home with a loud whine, giving his member a tired hello before stumbling off.

At some point, Minghao could see Jun walk to the kitchen from the corner of his eyes. He watched as the older member stopped in the middle of the room and looked to him, before leaving without a word. Lowering the book, Minghao watched as his back disappeared into the hallway towards his bedroom. With a deep sigh, he returned his attention to the page before him. Suddenly, the front door opened and Minghao jumped.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Wonwoo stated as he entered. Minghao blushed as he closed his book. He was not completely sure whether Jun told Wonwoo about the fake crush. Given by Jun’s current attitude, he was certain the older male at least knew something.

“What are you doing here?” Minghao questioned, trying to cover his flushed face. Wonwoo froze for a moment, his face completely blank as he stared at the Chinese member. Quickly, he shook himself back to reality.

“Sorry about that,” he chuckled in embarrassment, scratching his head softly. “I’m going to go visit Soonyoung is all,” he answered. He paused for a moment again before pointing at the book in Minghao’s hand. “You’re reading it,” he smiled.

“Yea…” he replied unsure of what just happened. “I have some free time and I don’t want to be holding onto it for forever so…” Minghao allowed his sentence to trail off as he gestured to the book in hand.

“Don’t worry about it. I trust you to take care of it for me,” he said warmly. With a creak from the door, Vernon walked out into the hallway and flinched at the sight of the other Hip-Hop unit member.

“Oh, hyung? What are you doing here?” he asked looking back and forth between the two.

“I’m here to talk to Soonyoungie,” the older member answered. Vernon pursed his lips and nodded as he went towards the kitchen.

“That doesn’t look like Hoshi-hyung,” he teased as he pointed to Minghao, who chuckled at the remark.

“I guess it isn’t,” Wonwoo smirked back. “I’ll talk to you later Minghao-yah. See you Hansol-ah,” he stated before heading towards Hoshi and Vernon’s shared bedroom. The two waved the older member goodbye before returning to their own activities. After finishing his cup of water, Vernon took a seat at the dining table.

“How have you been?” he asked. Once again, Minghao placed his book down.

“You know,” he said absently, giving a halfhearted shrug. “I’ve been… something,” he sighed.

“I take it not too well,” Vernon frowned as he moved over to go sit beside him.

“Life is complicated. It’s not easy to determine what we want and whether or not that thing is actually good for us and our wellbeing,” he explained, dropping his head in shame and annoyance. He hated not understanding himself.

“Oh trust me, I know what it’s like to not know my own feelings,” the younger male laughed. Minghao turned to him with a questioning look, but Vernon didn’t budge. “It’s a secret for me to take to my grave,” he stated, half serious half joking.

“I just wish there was an easy way out,” he said.

“I’m surprise that’s coming from you,” Vernon smiled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The rapper chuckled and patted Minghao’s leg.

“You’re the one always preaching about hard work and determination. That perseverance is the best way to achieve a goal, as well as the most satisfying. Hell, you made a whole song about that,” Vernon teased. “I know you feel confuse—that’s how I feel most of the time really—but I think you just need to give yourself a little credit. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Lately everyone has been acting crazy. The best way to figure shit out is to talk about it. I know _some people_ prefer having everything mapped out before they open up to others, but sometimes it’s _other_ _people_ that are the ones to help you figure things out,” he advised. Vernon wanted to help Mingyu—to know what he was going through—but the taller male was stubborn beyond belief. He wouldn’t let things out until he knew for sure about everything.

“Thanks, Hansol-ah,” Minghao smiled reaching up to wrap his arms around his friend. The two embraced from a moment before Vernon got up.

“It’s getting late, we better sleep,” he stated with a grin. The second youngest member said his goodnights before returning to his room. Sighing to himself, Minghao looked around him for a bit before getting up and stretching. Wonwoo wandered back into the living room, getting kicked out by Vernon.

“Heading to bed?” he asked as he approached the dancer.

“Yea, if I want to be prepared for tomorrow, I should go to sleep now,” he replied.

“Alright, goodnight then,” he said. Minghao noticed Wonwoo raising his arms yet hesitantly lowering them again. With a chuckle, he pulled Wonwoo into a hug.

“Goodnight, hyung,” he said back as he moved away from him. For a brief second, he could clearly read the look in Wonwoo’s eyes; flustered embarrassment. Before he could fully register the look, the older member broke into smile. He gave Minghao another small side hug before leaving back to his dorm downstairs. Swallowing thickly, Minghao stared holes into the door.

He was certain that Wonwoo knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year's Eve everyone!! Or depending were you are, Happy New Year's! I know the world still sucks right not, but I hope you guys are able to enjoy your time and hopefully 2021 turns a new leaf for all of us!
> 
> I will be starting university again, so this may be the last Thursday update for a while.
> 
> Song rec: "Voices" by Stray Kids


	12. Chapter 12

“This general discussion is to go over the special units for this album and determine who will be placed where with who,” Woozi announced as they sat around a table in one of the conference room.

“Does anybody have any ideas that they want to throw out?” S.coups asked his eyes scanning across each member. Joshua’s arm darted into the air, everyone turning to him attentively.

“I think it would be interesting if we changed up our positions,” he suggested.

“What exactly did you have in mind?” Woozi pouted his lips slightly, tilting his head.

“Like, I’m part of vocal team, but I want to try rapping,” he explained.

“I agree with hyung,” Minghao quickly blurted out, throwing his hand into the air. “I’m working on one of the pieces and I’d really enjoy it if I got to rap more in it,” he insisted turning to Woozi and S.coups with shining eyes.

“Anyone else in favor for that idea?” their leader asked, beginning to jot down notes. Both Wonwoo and Dino rose their hands, the older member gesturing towards the maknae.

“I want to be main vocals,” Dino asserted, locking eyes with Seungkwan who scoffed in disbelief and gave him a subtle smirk.

“I don’t know about main vocalist, but I’d like to sing a little more,” Wonwoo stated.

“I’ll rap!” Seungkwan declared, slamming his hand on the table as he pointed a finger at the maknae. The youngest member had been taunting him with faces from across the room.

“Is there anybody opposed to this idea?” Woozi asked.

“I’m not opposed to it,” Dokyeom shouted out, although he had his hand raised slightly. “But I think it would be better if only a few of the songs had role swaps,” he suggested.

“I agree,” the producer replied. “This is more like something we’d do for a concert, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. We’re doing four special units in total, so we can split it two and two. That being said, does anyone have any preferences?” Before he even finished his sentence, Jeonghan had his arm raised up.

“Weren’t the three of us discussing doing one together?” he questioned motioning to Woozi and S.coups.

“We weren’t going to say anything until after the others discussed their opinions first, but yes, the three of us being one of the potential units was already written,” the leader replied. The other members agreed to it with ease as they looked around at their other protentional unit mates.

“I want to be with Dino-yah!” Joshua stated. “There are a couple of the samples Woozi showed me that I think would be a good fit!” Dino shrugged and nodded, going along with the older member’s wishes.

“My only request is we have Seungkwan-hyung too,” he smirked cheekily, the main vocalist agreeing with fervor.

“I already talked to Woozi about this, but…” Minghao trailed off as he looked over to Mingyu. “You said you wanted to be a part of my song, right?” he mused looking for confirmation. Although still conflicted with what Vernon told him, Mingyu didn’t pass the opportunity. His face burst with a light of excitement as he grinned from ear to ear.

“Of course!” he shouted with a nod. “Although, I’d rather rap with you instead of sing,” he insisted, the Chinese member agreeing happily.

“Since I want to do a role switch, would it be okay if I were to sing in it?” Minghao turned to Wonwoo, his breath hitching slightly.

“Sure, I think it would suit you well,” he replied calmly, the older male smiling at the reply. From nowhere, Dino stood, slamming his hands down on the table as he turned to a silent Jun beside him.

“I think Jun-hyung should join The8-hyung’s group!” he hollered, turning to a surprised S.coups and Woozi. “No offense to Wonwoo-hyung, but if it’s just those three than they don’t have a very strong vocal line. Jun can sing for them,” he insisted. Finally noticing the looks the others were giving, Dino cleared his throat and took a seat. “Junnie-hyung, don’t you want to sing?” he asked.

“Well yea, but—”

“Then its settled,” the youngest stated, cutting him off. He made eye contact with Hoshi and gesture for him to back him up. Although unsure of what was going on, Hoshi was quick to follow up.

“I agree with Channie; Jun’s voice really matches Minghao’s song—or at least the small parts of it that I heard. Wonwoo’s deep voice and Jun’s falsetto will also contrast nicely. As for the part switch, I’m already splitting my talents as a vocalist and rapper, so I’ll be okay with joining Joshua-hyung’s team and doing whichever,” he stated, changing the topic immediately.

“But wait, that only leaves Hansol and Seokmin,” S.coups pointed out, taking Hoshi’s bait of ignoring the maknae’s outburst.

“Are you two okay with doing a duet piece?” Woozi asked. The two of them turned to each other from across the table and smiled.

“February 18th brothers!” Dokyeom cheered, running around the table to give the younger member a hug. All of them laugh and began chatting freely, talking over each other as they went over potential ideas. Suddenly, S.coups called for their attention. Once the members quieted down, he signaled over to Woozi.

“Remember, these are not the official groups, just the potential ones. Since we’re doing a whole position reversal thing, there’s a high chance the company won’t approve our songs. If the songs don’t come out as well as I’d want them to, it’s likely that we’ll have to switch around and accommodate for that. For now, this is enough. We don’t have anything else planned today and I’ll be going over different samples. We will discuss more about the special units later,” he stated, giving a firm nodded. Everyone nodded in agreement and S.coups gave some final words before they were all excused for the rest of the day.

* * *

Half of the members returned to the dorms, the other half deciding to spend the day going out. In the dorms, Dokyeom sat at his computer, Seungkwan on his bed behind him. The two of them shared anecdotes and laughed cheerfully, wasting their time relaxing. Suddenly, the door swung open and they both jumped with a shriek.

“I need your guys’ help!” Minghao shouted, slamming the door behind him. As Minghao collapsed onto the bed, Seungkwan shuffled aside to give him more room. The two main vocalist exchanged looks, before returning their attention back to their distraught friend. They remained quiet as they waited for him to continue or possibly explain what was wrong, but Minghao only groaned in frustration.

“Minghao-yah?” Dokyeom cooed, poking at his member’s body. “What’s going on?” Suddenly, Minghao shot up, startling the two again. He let out a deep sigh, before resting against the wall.

“I messed up… and I really need some help,” he mumbled, reflecting on the conversation he had with Vernon. Once again, the other two shared glances, before Seungkwan crawled next to him.

“What’s wrong?” the youngest asked placing a tender hand on his shoulder. Minghao took a deep breath, before throwing his head back with a roar of agitation. He let out a series of curses before collapsing onto Seungkwan’s lap.

“I lied to Jun-hyung that I had a crush on Wonwoo-hyung, and he told him and now Wonwoo thinks I’m in love with him!” he cried covering his face in shame. The two vocalists sat in petrified silence, unable to comprehend what was going on. “I shouldn’t have lied!” Minghao added with a wail.

“You think?” Seungkwan yelled back, pulling him up and sitting him against the wall.

“Minghao-yah!” Dokyeom screeched, stumbling to get onto the bed quickly. “Why did you even lie about it in the first place?” he grabbed onto his friend’s shoulder and began thrashing him around in a panic.

“It was the first thing that came to mind!” he exclaimed, trying his best to grab Dokyeom’s hands and stop him. Dokyeom complied, remaining still while continuing to hold onto him tightly.

“You have to tell Wonwoo-hyung the truth! Now!” he demanded. He wasn’t angry with his member, but his aggression was genuine.

“I’m afraid it’ll make things awkward,” Minghao grumbled, hanging his head.

“Is it not already awkward with him thinking you’re in love with him?” Seungkwan scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief about the whole situation. “Haven’t you two been spending an awful lot of time together recently?” he quickly added. Without a verbal response, Minghao dropped his head even lower. “Screw it being awkward! You need to tell him before he falls in love with you too!” he yelled, giving Minghao’s arm a small slap.

“I doubt he would—”

“Why else has he been hanging out with you so much?” Seungkwan huffed, cutting him off. The Chinese member was silent for a moment before groaning loud. Lifting his face to the ceiling, he covered his eyes with his hands.

“What have I done?” he whispered. With a deep sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair and turned to his friends with sullen eyes.

“I still don’t understand: why did you lie to begin with? You said that it was because it was the first thing you thought of, but why did you need to come up with something?” Dokyeom questioned with a soft frown. Suddenly Minghao blushed, his face burning pink as he lowered his eyes.

“Jun…” he trailed off, suddenly realizing he had more to explain. The two waited patiently, watching their friend fiddle around with the ends of his sleeve.

“Its rarely for you to lie to Jun-hyung,” Seungkwan noted. Minghao inhaled sharply and nodded. A few seconds passed and Minghao’s lips remained shut. He was trying to think of ways to explain his situation and feelings, but he himself didn’t know what they were so how could he possibly explain it? “Just spit it out,” Seungkwan stated. “It doesn’t matter whether it makes sense or not. Once you get it out the first time, it’ll be easier to talk about,” he encouraged. Calming himself, Minghao took a deep breath.

“I have had a major crush on Jun for a while—originally, I was trying to figure out if my feelings were genuinely or if I was mistaking something else for love—I finally came to the conclusion that I _am_ in love with him, but I’m confident he doesn’t feel the same about me so I kept it hidden from him—lately, I started getting feelings for Mingyu and now I’m a mess because I don’t know if I really ever liked Jun or if I even like Mingyu in that kind of way—recently, Jun noticed I was acting weird about something and he cornered me and I felt angry with myself and pressured, I almost confessed but I got scared and lied by blurting out that I like Wonwoo!” he said all in one go. Once again, his friends were rendered mute by his confession.

“You what?” Dokyeom screeched in shock, the other two instinctively covering his mouth. “Is that why you and Mingyu were so weird that one time?” he questioned, remembering the awkward atmosphere from their movie night.

“Kind of? I don’t really know to be honest. I’m still trying to figure out my feelings,” he sighed, ruffling his hair with both hands.

“What are you so confused about?” Seungkwan asked.

“I don’t know: everything?” he replied back with a frown.

“Here,” Seungkwan mumbled, shifting around on the bed. He grabbed both of Minghao’s hands and gazed into his eyes. “Let’s take it slow: why were you conflicted about liking Jun-hyung?” he stated, attempting to help Minghao sort through his feelings.

With another deep breath, Minghao pondered. He knew exactly why. The two of them started a sexual relationship without ever going over any potential feelings they had for each other. When Minghao fell, he wasn’t sure whether it was love or lust compelling him to feel that way. His situation with Mingyu was the same. He only started to see Mingyu as a potential lover after they got drunk together. It wasn’t what they did that got him thinking though; it was everything after. In reality, Minghao knew his problem wasn’t whether or not he liked them anymore—because he knew he loved them both—his problem was himself.

“I… don’t know,” he muttered softly, almost in a daze. He was still too scared to admit everything. He knew he loved them, but he didn’t want to. Admitting it out loud would only make it more real. By pretending to be conflicted, he was able to deny the fact that he fell head-over-heels for his two best friends. Seungkwan and Dokyeom turned to one another with disappointed expressions, but gave their friend reassuring pats.

“You don’t need to know everything, Minghao-yah. It’s okay to be confuse about your feelings. But regardless of whether you like those two or not, you don’t like Wonwoo-hyung and you need to tell him,” Dokyeom said. His voice was calm and comforting, he hated seeing his close friend suffer.

“I want to, but I don’t know how,” Minghao sighed.

“Just be upfront; that’s what you’re good at anyways,” Seungkwan teased, trying his best to lighten the mood. Successfully, Minghao smirked at his comment. He was known for being rather blunt sometimes and now needed to be one of those times.

“You’re right,” he declared, getting up from the bed. “Thank you, Seungkwannie, Dokyeomie,” he gave them a light bow, but was immediately pulled into a group hug.

“What are friends for?” Seungkwan beamed, planting a light kiss on the side of his head. Bursting into giggles, he jokingly shivered at the affection before thanking them once more.

“I should go,” he gave them one last farewell before leaving the room. His heart raced fast enough for him to feel like he was dying. Taking a deep breath, he walked down the hallway of the 1st dorm. As he entered the living room, he noticed Wonwoo sitting on his bed. “Oh! You’re home,” Minghao stated in shook, frozen in place. Wonwoo looked up from his phone and smiled.

“Yea, I just got here a few minutes ago,” he replied. “Some of the members are still out though; I came back with Jun and Jeonghan-hyung,” he added. The younger male nodded, still blankly staring at him. Now or never, he thought to himself.

“Can we talk? Just you and me?” he blurted out, pointing a finger between them. Wonwoo frowned as he looked around the empty room.

“No one else is here?” he questioned in confusion,

“Can we talk privately?” he tried again. Sitting up nicely, Wonwoo nodded earnestly. His face flushed pink as he scrambled onto his feet.

“Uh, sure… where?” he stuttered out as he approached him. Minghao blushed in return as he lowered his eyes from meeting with the other member’s.

“Would my room be okay?”

“Your room?” Wonwoo echoed back, swallowing thickly. “Sure… lead the way,” he replied, opening the door for Minghao. The two of them stepped out of the apartment and silently headed upstairs. Neither of looked at each other as they walked to Minghao’s room.

“Take a seat,” he stated and motioned to his bed, following quietly behind. As the two of them sat down beside one another, the air grew heavy with tension. Taking a deep breath, Minghao lifted his head to face Wonwoo. Before he had the chance to open his mouth, Wonwoo spoke.

“Can I go first?” he asked. Minghao’s stomach dropped and began tying itself into a knot with anxiety.

“O-of course,” he stammered, gesturing to him in approval. Now he really felt like he could die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years! Here's to a better year~ For those of you who are like me and are going back to school (I'm a fourth year uni student), good luck with your studies!!! And for those of you who are going back to work after the holiday season, stay safe!
> 
> Song rec: "Work Hard" by DKB


	13. Chapter 13

Minghao sat in silence his stomach turning with anticipation. Aside from his fidgeting fingers, he remained completely still. He didn’t dare meet eyes with Wonwoo, keeping his head low as he gaze at the older male’s hands. Wonwoo as well was silent even though he asked to speak. After taking a deep breath, the rapper sudden took Minghao’s fumbling hands. When he raised his eyes, their stares met.

“Minghao-yah,” Wonwoo started. The younger male took a sharp inhale and nodded his head in response, scared to pull his eyes away. “You are one of the most amazing people in our group. You’re hard working, determine, and so kind-hearted. I admire you so, so much. I know we are not usually very personal with one another, but I know that I can trust you no matter what.” Minghao swallowed dryly and nodded his head once again. “These past few weeks I’ve been trying to get closer to you and its honestly been the most fun I’ve had in a while,” Wonwoo smiled uncontrollably and he couldn’t help but laugh from embarrassment.

“Wonwoo-hyung—”

“What I mean to say is…” Minghao was lightheaded with fear. He agreed to clear things up with Wonwoo out of concern of him getting the wrong idea and accidentally falling in love with him, but it already seemed too late. “…as amazing and wonderful as I think you are, there is somebody else I have feelings for—”

“Oh thank god,” Minghao sighed in relief, falling backwards onto his bed. He brought his arms up to covered his eyes and he chuckled softly to himself.

“Thank god?” the older male echoed in confusion. With a deep breath and a small smile, Minghao sat back up and took Wonwoo’s hands back in his.

“This was all a huge misunderstanding,” he stated. “I admire you and look up to you and have wanted to get closer to you for years, but I was never actually in love with you. I… I’m so sorry for tricking you for weeks. To start with, I never expected the lie to reach your ears. I was in a panic because I was afraid to admit who I actually liked and stated your name,” he explained. “I feel really bad about it and I know it was wrong of me to rope you into my lie,” he added lowering his head in shame. Although still shocked by the truth, Wonwoo smiled and pulled his friend into a hug.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I didn’t crush your heart in the end,” he teased giving Minghao a light pinch on the cheek. The younger member brushed his hand off but couldn’t help the edges of his lips from curling up.

“So who’s the special somebody that you theoretically rejected me for?” Minghao teased. “I’ll tell you who I actually like in return,” he added with a shy scratch of his head. Wonwoo let out a small chuckle as he nodded his head, contemplating his answer. Even though he was currently torn between two people, there was only one answer. His relationship with Mingyu had unexplainably gotten worse and his relationship with Jun wasn’t going anywhere after the kiss. However, the conversation he had with Hoshi stuck in his mind: it doesn’t hurt him to try and work things out with other people.

“I like Junnie,” he answered. Since he was looking up at the ceiling, he didn’t see the hurt and confusion spread across Minghao’s face. Quickly, the younger male turned away. He felt like throwing up with anxiety.

“I like Mingyu,” he stated back in a hush voice. Shocked, Wonwoo whipped his head towards him. The room fell silent as the two of them held their breath.

“I… had no clue,” Wonwoo finally muttered out, shifting his gaze away.

“I could say the same to you,” Minghao scoffed in disbelief.

“Well…” the older member paused before shaking his head and snapping himself out of his confusion. Assertively, he grabbed ahold of Minghao’s shoulder, causing his member to finally lift his head to him. With a smile, Wonwoo gave him a small nod. “I’m glad you told me. Good luck with your feelings,” he stated earnestly.

“Y-you too!” he stuttered out, flustered by Wonwoo’s sudden action.

“I should get going back to my dorm… it was nice talking to you,” the rapper said as he got up. Minghao bid him farewell and sat motionlessly at the edgy of his bed. Remembering Wonwoo mentioned he came home with Jeonghan, Minghao walked over to the other single room. With a light knock, he allowed himself in. The second oldest member looked up at him and tilted his head to the side.

“Eisa? Something wrong?” he chirped, waving him into the room.

“Have you… have you ever liked more than one person at once? Like genuinely truly love both of them?” he asked as he took a seat. Startled by the sudden talk of love again, Jeonghan let out a small chuckled. The vocalist could see the panic and awkwardness in the way Minghao held himself.

“What’s with all this talk of love?” he teased, lightly slapping Minghao’s knee in an attempt to cheer him up. Minghao didn’t react as he silently waited for Jeonghan’s answer. With a sigh, the older member turned away with a thoughtful hum. “I have before,” he replied, prompting Minghao to jolt his head up.

“What happened? How did it end?” he asked eagerly. Once again, the older member let out an amused laugh.

“Well I didn’t end up with either of them, I can tell you that much,” he snickered, shaking his head as the memories came rushing back. “But I guess that’s not what you want to hear, huh?” he smiled turning back to Minghao, who nodded.

“You don’t have to give me all the details. I just want to know about your experience with it,” the Chinese member added, embarrassed by his initial zealousness.

“It was back before we debuted. There was a girl in my high school I really liked. We weren’t actually close—I wouldn’t even say we were friends—but she was cute and something about her just made my heart raced. It was young love at its finest,” Jeonghan smiled fondly, looking off into the distance before softly shaking his head. “I talked about her a lot with a close friend of mine; I usually told him everything. From the start, I always felt different with this friend. Something about him just made me feel at ease. All our talks about love made me feel self-conscious and I started saying outrageous things about my crush just to see what kind of reactions he would have,” Jeonghan paused as he thought about his words carefully. “It’s not that he didn’t care about what I had to say, but it never affected him. Parts of me felt upset that he never got bothered and I realized, maybe I loved him too.

“That’s how I learned love came in many different forms. My classmate made me feel exhilarated; I had a rush of adrenaline every time our eyes met. However, my friend made me feel soothed; he felt like a second home. While these sensations were different, they both made me feel that weird fuzzy feeling that I could only assumed was love.” Jeonghan closed his eyes as he relived those feelings. As he opened his eyes, he turned to Minghao. “I wasn’t able to confess to either of them. We graduated from high school and my classmate and I never saw each other again. As for my friend, I already knew he didn’t feel that way for me and decided our friendship meant much more than the off chance of us being together. As I’ve told you before: love is unexpected. I was able to find someone else and move on peacefully,” he concluded, taking his member’s hand in his. Minghao squeezed his hand tightly and nodded his head.

“Thank you,” he whispered. The older member suddenly burst into laughter.

“Why are you thanking me? There’s no need to be so serious,” he beamed, cupping Minghao’s face. “Cheer up, Eisa. I won’t pretend to know what you are going through, and I wouldn’t even think to ask, but there’s nothing wrong with liking multiple of people at once. If this is the case, it doesn’t diminish your feelings for the other person, and you don’t have to make any kind of decision,” he encouraged. Minghao stared with longing eyes; he couldn’t put his feelings into words out of fear. “Everything will be fine,” he comforted, rubbing his cheek with his thumb. “If its ever too much for you to bear on your own, you always have me and the other members,” he added as the younger member lowered his face to look away. Carefully, Minghao reached up to place his hand against Jeonghan’s.

“I know,” he hummed softly, thinking of Seungkwan, Dokyeom, and even Vernon. “We are always there to help each other. I know,” he repeated.

“I’m glad you understand,” Jeonghan smirked as he moved his hand to tilt Minghao’s chin up. “This is just me prying, so feel free to not answer this—but does you being upset and obsess with love have anything to do with why Mingyu has been so weird lately?” he asked. Quickly, Minghao shook his head no.

“I’m not sure what he has been upset about. We haven’t had the opportunity to talk about it,” he answered honestly. Sighing, Jeonghan waved his hand in the air.

“Alright, no worries then. I was just wondering if you knew what was going on in that mind of his,” he mumbled. Once again, Minghao shook his head. The younger member thanked the older one once more before leaving the room.

* * *

“Oh, what about this one?” Mingyu suggested as he pointed at Dokyeom’s computer screen. The two of them were online shopping: a clothing website was having a sale on the previous season’s line. It had been two days since Minghao opened up to Seungkwan and Dokyeom about his current dilemma. Dokyeom wanted to ask Mingyu about it but hadn’t found the opportunity to until now. After filling their cart and inputting the payment, Mingyu laid on the other 97-liner’s bed, Dokyeom turning his chair around to face him.

“Hey Mingyu-ah, I have a question,” he started. He really was not one for confrontation, but he needed answers. Earlier, he tried asking Jeonghan and then Vernon if they knew what was bothering Mingyu. The second oldest denied knowing anything and suddenly bursting into a rant of worry for the tallest member. Vernon, on the other hand, admitted to knowing way more than he could tell him. Instead, he encouraged Dokyeom to ask Mingyu himself, stating that the other rapper needed more people he could talk to. Mingyu turned to look at him, sitting up in the process.

“What’s up?” he mused nonchalantly.

“I know it’s a touchy subject, but I wanted to know if everything was okay—” Immediately, Mingyu’s face changed. His eyes widen and he dropped his head to avoid Dokyeom’s concern stare.

“Don’t worry—”

“It’s kind of hard _not_ to worry,” Dokyeom interjected. “All of us are practically together twenty-four hours a day. When one person is down, we all get down. I am not going so far as to say you’re running the mood, but there is very clearly something bothering you,” he persisted. Mingyu glanced up at him and sighed before laying back down on the bed.

“There’s a lot going on right now. My mind is just a mess,” he said.

“Maybe it will help you clear your mind if you just talk about it,” Dokyeom continued. He hated prying like this; being noisy and inconsiderate of what his member was going through. But given the way things seemed to be going now, intervention of _any_ sort was needed.

“I don’t know where to start,”

“Start with the movie night we had with Minghao.” Mingyu jolted up, turning to Dokyeom with wide-eyed shock. His stomach dropped at the thought of that night. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but quickly closed it. It was already too late to denying anything, his reaction already giving him away. Plopping back down, Mingyu stared up at the ceiling. At this point he might as well come clean.

“I’m in love with Minghao—” Before the vocalist could even react, Mingyu put his hand up to stop him. “I’m also in love with Wonwoo-hyung… I have been in love with him for years now. Recently, I found out that Minghao likes him too and, based on the way hyung has been acting, I am assuming he probably feels the same,” he explained. “I know I’m supposed to move on—make things easier on everyone—but I can’t help the feelings of jealousy and disappointment. I just want them to be happy and if they make each other happy, then that was supposed to be good enough for me. I know my behavior has been negatively effecting everyone. I have been a brat for no reason other than for getting my heart broken. That being said: right now, I just need time to get better—”

“Mingyu-ah, you’re _wrong_ ,” Dokyeom shouted, getting up from his chair to sit next to him. The rapper frowned as he stared up at his friend. “Minghao isn’t in love with Wonwoo-hyung—” Mingyu scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned towards the wall. “He really isn’t—”

“Why do you think that?” he challenged. Vernon clearly told him that Minghao was and he had no reason to doubt him. Dokyeom was quiet as he tried to find the right words without revealing something he was not supposed to.

“It… it is a misunderstanding,” he said, desperation ringing in his voice. “I don’t know who originally told you, but the situation really is just a misunderstanding. The two of them are not together and don’t have any sort of romantic feelings for one another,” he continued. Mingyu’s stomach began to stir. If it truly was a misunderstanding, it still did not change anything. He had witness Wonwoo and Jun kiss each other. Minghao clearly told him he had feelings for somebody else. It didn’t matter to him. Either way, neither of them felt the same.

“Even if it is, it’s not my problem. I already decided that its best for me to move on. Whether they like each other or not, has nothing to do with me anymore. I just need time,” he repeated. Dokyeom stared helplessly but nodded in defeat. He laid down next to Mingyu, softly cradling him in his arm.

“I just wanted to help,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.” Mingyu turned towards his friend and returned his embrace. Lately, everyone seemed to be apologizing to him.

“I’m sorry for making you worry,” he replied, closing his eyes as he fought back against his tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try my hardest to post a bonus chapter on Thursday. It probably won't be as long as the standard chapters, but I'll do my best! 
> 
> Song rec: "What I Said" by Victon (They just had their comeback, check them out!!)


	14. Bonus Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a mini JeongCheol chapter!! Once again, bonus chapters have nothing to do with the plot so if you want to skip this chapter, please feel free to!

As he heard soft knocking against his bedroom door, Jeonghan lifted his eyes from his phone screen and sighed. Lately, he had been receiving much more visitors than usual. To his surprise, S.coups walked in with a smirked. “Not happy to see me?” he teased as he closed the door. Jeonghan broke into a smile as he motioned him to the spot beside him.

“Not at all,” he hummed pleased, S.coups sinking under the blankets. Jeonghan set his phone down and turned to look at the leader. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked.

“I heard the kids have been bugging you a bunch and I wanted to see if you needed someone to bug too,” he smiled softly. Jeonghan chuckled as he looked away, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

“It can’t be helped. I have no idea what is going on in their heads. Mingyu especially has been worrisome. He won’t open up to me and from what Jun told me, he’s not willing to open up to anyone about it. Minghao is acting like he is just hitting puberty and is experiencing love for the first time—which would _not_ surprise me if he really is. Except for the fact that he is in love with _at least two_ people,” he rambled. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to S.coups. “I’m fine. I don’t need help just yet,” he said.

“You sure?” S.coups insisted, unable to hide his worry expression. Jeonghan laughed and nodded his head.

“I’m honestly fine. It is my job to take care of them after all. Listening to their problems is part of the job, its hardly a reason to complain,” he smiled. S.coups smiled back and nodded his head, turning away a bit.

“Ah, I feel jealous,” he hummed. Jeonghan chuckled, lightly slapping his thigh.

“What are you talking about?” he mused.

“I’m jealous that they all come running to you for help,” he admitted, catching Jeonghan completely off-guard. “I know I’m not as emotionally vulnerable as you, but as the leader…” S.coups trialed off as he tilted his head. “I just wish they could talk to me about their problems too. I want them to know that I’m here for them. That they can trust me too…” Jeonghan sighed, a small smile poking at his lips as he wrapped his arms around the oldest member.

“Oh come on!” he cried out, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly, his smile now uncontainable. “You really think they don’t trust you? That they think you’re not good enough for their feelings?” Jeonghan stopped himself from laughing in S.coups’ face.

“They only ever go to me for practical problems. With the exception of Soonyoung and Jihoon, the members rarely come to me about their personal issues,” he frowned. He was envious of the second eldest’s relationship with the members.

“Seungcheol-ah,” Jeonghan said firmly. “The members all look up to you. You are our leader; you share the most burdens along with Jihoonnie and Soonyoungie. They don’t talk to you about their personal problems because they are worried about you. They don’t want to stress you out; it has nothing to do with competence or trust or anything like that. Don’t compare our roles in the group. There’s a reason why I am here. I support you by supporting the others,” he comforted, grabbing S.coups’ hand and placing their ringed pinkies together. S.coups smiled as he fiddled with the ring. “Now stop being a baby,” Jeonghan teased once he noticed the oldest was no longer sulking.

“Why do you have to ruin the mood?” he laughed, shaking his head.

“What? I’m just being honest!” he sneered, sticking his tongue out playfully. S.coups shook his head, shoving Jeonghan soft.

“So what’s this about Minghao liking multiple of people?” he asked, returning back to the original conversation.

“I’m not too sure, he didn’t give me a lot of details. Whoever he likes, one of them is definitely in the group,” he informed.

“Similar to your old situation?” Jeonghan paused, his ears turning red.

“Well, I’m not sure if the second crush is a member or not. Either way, he seemed pretty conflicted. I tried telling him that love is confusing and unexpected to helping him from trying to logic his way through his feelings, but I think he’s still overthinking it,” he explained, a sigh punctuating his sentence.

“Unexpected, you say?” S.coups hummed thoughtfully. Without warning, the rapper grabbed Jeonghan’s jaw, pulling his face close. He placed a soft kiss against his lips. Jeonghan could feel the way S.coups lips were curled up into a smile against his. Quickly, the vocalist put a hand on his forehead and pushed him away.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he huffed, folding his arms.

“Am I not allowed to kiss you?” he questioned in disbelief. “What kind of person doesn’t let his boyfriend kiss him when he wants?” he whined when Jeonghan continued to stare holes into him.

“Oh? Since when was I obligated to let you do something because you wanted to? What happened to consent? Should you be allowed to do whatever you want with me because we are lovers—?”

“Don’t say that!” S.coups shouted, covering his mouth. His burrows were furrowed, and his bottom lip jutted out into a pout. “Don’t be like this,” he said softly, genuinely upset with Jeonghan’s bad taste in a joke.

“I went too far; I’m sorry,” he replied back, genuinely feelings guilty. S.coups nodded; his expression still pouty. “Such a baby,” he hummed, pinching his cheek.

“Why do I even love you?” S.coups grumbled, pushing his hand off his face.

“Because I’m amazing,” he grinned cheekily. The older member couldn’t suppress his laughter.

“You really are,” he said with a dreamy tone, his eyes shimmering with adoration for the second eldest. A small blush overcame his cheeks as he shifted his eyes from the fond look. “So why did you fall for me?” S.coups asked playfully, giving Jeonghan a wink and a kiss face.

“Who knows?” he scoffed, rolling his eyes still smiling.

“Come on,” he booed. “At least give me one reason!” Jeonghan gave a thoughtful hum as he pretended to be deep in thought.

“Nope, can’t think of anything,” he shrugged in conclusion.

“You’re always like this,” he frowned. Jeonghan grinned as he nodded back.

“You are extremely charismatic yet super humble at the same time. You constantly strive to improve when you are already amazing enough. You are a natural born leader, with both ideals and determination. You make me laugh. You’re strong as hell but still act soft. You have an adorable smile and a laugh that melts my heart. Your deep voice when you rap. Your angelic voice when you sing. The way you care for everyone you come into contact with, offering unconditional kindness and support. The way you look at me. The way you call my name. The way you hold me. The way your body looks when you’re—” S.coups covered his mouth, his face bright read from the praises.

“I get it, I get it,” he smiled, pulling his hand away. “You’re always so affectionate when its platonic or a joke,” he pointed out. Parts of him felt disappointed at the lack of serious affection from his lover, but he knew how Jeonghan was and he could hardly fault him for it. S.coups’ vision turned dark as Jeonghan’s hands came over his eyes. He could feel the weight shift in the bed as he suddenly felt Jeonghan’s breath tickling his upper lip.

“It’s because it is embarrassing,” he whispered, leaning forward to kiss S.coups. He removed his hand, cupping his lover’s cheek before pulling away. “You’re the first person I have ever loved, and I just don’t know what to do with myself,” he grinned, stroking his face with his thumb. His cheeks were rosy from embarrassment, his ears burning the same shade of pink. S.coups squeezed his arms around Jeonghan, manhandling him on top of him.

“I just want to stay like this forever,” he said peppering chaste kisses all over his face. He laughed in returned, giving the older member a small, annoyed noise as he broke away from his kissing.

“Spend the night then,” he teased with a wink.

“Gladly,” S.coups replied, bring their lips together again. Darting out of the bed, he shut off the lights and threw himself onto Jeonghan. “Good luck sleeping with me here,” he joked, nuzzling against him.

“Same goes for you,” Jeonghan hummed happily as he wrapped his arms around S.coups’ neck, pulling him down for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not that anybody asked, but I based Jeonghan's love life on that one pre-debut clip where he tells Joshua about his crush.
> 
> Song rec: "Fine" by NU'EST


	15. Chapter 15

Dino counted the seconds in his head in between each long pause of silence. Jun, Minghao, and himself were sitting on the practice room floor. Hoshi was called out and the three of them were left alone with nothing but the company of one another. The youngest tried his best to keep the two of them engaged in a conversation, but Jun refused to raised his eyes towards Minghao while Minghao constantly stole timid glances at Jun in return. Once he reached two hundred, Dino sighed and laid on the floor. He pulled out his phone and played the current demo of their new song.

“Any choreo ideas?” he asked, looking at them hopefully. Minghao turned to him and rose to his feet without a word, Jun shrinking inward. Gradually, Minghao started dancing, vibing with the music.

“Maybe something like that?” he suggested, turning back to their maknae. He nodded back enthusiastically.

“I think it’s great! What do you think hyung?” he asked turning to Jun. The oldest nodded.

“It was nice,” he said in a small voice, meeting eyes with Minghao, who turned away immediately. Once again, Jun shut down, dropping his gaze. Dino pressed his lips into a thin line as he paused the music and just laid down, praying Hoshi would return soon. Minghao sat back down at his spot, shifting his eyes to Jun for a moment. He didn’t mean to turn away so quickly. He didn’t mean to make thing awkward. He just wasn’t sure how to face him—how to face his own feelings knowing what he knew. Why was everything such a mess?

Minghao ran his fingers through his hair as he looked aimlessly around the room, stopping when his eyes caught Jun’s reflection in the mirror. He wanted to make up, but he didn’t know where to start. As the door clicked open, the three of them jumped and turned to the opening door. Hoshi walked in, confused by the silence and their surprised—and one extremely appreciative—looks. “Are you guys okay?” he asked, as they all got to their feet.

“Fine,” Jun answered, Minghao humming softly as his reply. Standing behind the two Chinese members, Dino shook his head as he aggressively pointed at them. Hoshi raised a brow, but just nodded. The four of them went over potential choreography, later meeting with Woozi and Bumzu over lyrics and possible line distribution.

“You need to stop leaving me alone with those two, I’m starting to go crazy,” Dino sighed, as him and Hoshi walked in the hallway of the company.

“Has it really been that bad?” the unit leader frowned unaware that the two members were quarreling.

“It’s not like they are mad at each other, but something definitely happened,” he said. “They refuse to speak in the same conversation. They panic every time they meet eyes. If we’re not talking work, they won’t talk at all,” he ranted. “Someone needs to talk to them. Either of them,”

“Why don’t you?” Hoshi asked. Dino stopped in his tracks, the older member stopping beside him. _Why didn’t he?_

“Alright, I’ll talk to Minghao-hyung, you talk to Jun-hyung,” he devised.

“Why don’t you talk to Jun? You two are roommates, wouldn’t it be easier to talk to him?”

“That’s exactly why _you_ need to talk to him. If I talk to Junnie-hyung and it suddenly gets awkward between us, he’ll feel weird in his own bedroom!” he exclaimed. Hoshi contemplated. While he agreed that leaving tension between the members was bad, he also didn’t know if intervening was the right idea. When he glanced up, he was met with Dino’s sincere—almost begging—eyes.

“Talk to Minghao first; see what he has to say. If he doesn’t give us enough information, then we question Jun,” he gave in, scratching the back of his head reluctantly. “By the way, does you forcing Jun into Minghao’s unit have anything to do with this?” he questioned, remembering how he had to cover for the maknae’s weird behavior.

“I thought it would be a good bonding experience,” he replied hesitantly. “I also thought that them working in close proximity would force them to get over whatever was bugging them,” he added in a quiet voice.

“Be careful; it may backfire,” Hoshi warned as he finally started walking again. He patted Dino’s arm, who silently followed in tow. Several hours later, the members of the Performance and Vocal Unit were release—the Hip-Hop unit staying to work on lyrics and get it approved. Dino was able to convince Minghao to go out with him. The two of them went shopping, walking around the city before returning to their dorms. Dino followed Minghao into his room without asking, although the Chinese member didn’t complain.

“Do you want to talk?” Dino asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“No, but I take it you do,” Minghao replied with a small scoff. He took a seat beside the youngest member, crossing his legs and folding his arms. “Let me guess, you want to see if something has been bothering me?” he hummed tentatively. Dino nodded eagerly. “What do you know so far?” he asked, giving in without a fuss. There was no point in fighting back. It would not have surprised him if word had gotten around.

“Nothing. It’s just… you and Junnie-hyung have been acting weird,” he said.

“It’s complicated right now. You don’t need to worry too much. We didn’t fight or anything. I just…” Minghao sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. There wasn’t an easy way for him to explain the awkwardness. Dino sat in silence as he waited for him to continue. After several moments of nothingness, he cleared his throat.

“Hyung, do you trust me?” he asked.

“Of course I do,” Minghao replied instinctively.

“Then can you be honest and tell me what is happening?” he persisted.

“I don’t want to say more than I’m allowed to. I _do_ want to tell you my side, but it doesn’t make sense alone and it’s not my place to tell other people’s secrets,” he explained. He already felt guilty for getting Wonwoo caught up in his own mess. He didn’t want to cause more drama by spreading gossip. With a deep breath, Dino pushed his lips into a tight, thin line.

“While I agree that keeping other’s secrets is noble and definitely the right thing to do, don’t you think we all trust each other enough? Fine, you don’t want to tell me someone else’s business—I get it. I could easily go to each member, one by one, asking them what their problems are and put all the pieces of the puzzle together on my own. However, I don’t know who knows what. I don’t know what information is relevant or important. You—on the other hand—you know I wouldn’t do anything malicious with this information. I’m just _worried_.” Minghao sighed again as he shook his head. He knew Dino was right.

“I—I have feelings for Jun-hyung,” he stuttered. Dino nodded encouragingly. This was something he already suspected a while ago, so it did not surprise him.

“Did you confess? Is that what happened?” he questioned when he noticed Minghao froze. Quickly, the older member shook his head.

“He noticed I was acting weird and I almost confessed but… I got scared and did something stupid,” Frustrated with himself, Minghao ruffled his hair wildly. Dino waited. He would accept whatever information Minghao wanted to offer him. He didn’t want to push him too hard. “I lied and told him I had feelings for Wonwoo-hyung. Later I found out that he told him that I liked him, and I got furious. I knew he was only trying to help, but from my perspective, it just made things messier than it had to be. Thankfully, I already cleared things up with Wonwoo-hyung. That being said, I have yet to talked to Jun-hyung about it,” he explained.

“Why don’t you just talk to Jun-hyung? Explain to him that it was a lie, that you like him?” Dino asked. Minghao’s heart thumped hard in this chest, pounding against his ribs. Wonwoo had feelings for Jun. He didn’t want to betray his trust by continuing to go after the other Chinese member when he stated he liked Mingyu.

“I can’t, not now at least—”

“Why not?” The room fell silent and Minghao let out a frustrated roar, falling backwards onto his bed. With a sullen face, he turned his head to meet the maknae’s eyes.

“Because Wonwoo-hyung told me he’s in love with Jun-hyung too,” he whispered. Dino blinked in surprise; his eyes widen, his brows raised halfway through his forehead. Instinctively, his lips parted for him to speak but no words left his mouth. Minghao smirked at his reaction as he looked away back to the ceiling. “See?” he hummed softly. “I can’t tell him my feelings.”

“Even if you don’t want to confess, you could just tell him that you don’t have feelings for Wonwoo-hyung. If you don’t want to tell him you lied, you could just say you moved on from him,” Dino advice, moving closer to stroke the other member’s arm comfortingly.

“Thanks, Channie-ah,” Minghao smiled, turning back to him. “I’m sorry for putting you in such a difficult position. Playing the mediator is never fun,” he sighed as he pushed himself back up.

“It’s really no problem. I just want to help,” he grinned.

“What a good maknae,” Minghao teased, patting both his cheeks. Dino shook his head, pulling his face away. He gave a small pout that quickly melted back into a smile.

“As long as you are all happy, I’m happy too. I shouldn’t live a burden-free life just because I’m the youngest,” he stated as he got up from the bed. “Is there anything else you need to get off your chest?” he asked.

“No. Thank you for listening to me though,” he said. With a nod of affirmation, Dino left the room. He walked over to Hoshi’s room, knowing that Vernon was still at the studio. The Performance Unit Leader looked up at him, placing his phone away.

“What did he say?” he asked.

“Well, he told me that he has feelings for Jun-hyung but wrongly told him that he liked Wonwoo-hyung. Junnie-hyung told Wonwoo-hyung and Minghao-hyung got mad at him. He cleared things up with Wonwoo-hyung but still hasn’t talked to Jun-hyung because now he knows Wonwoo-hyung has feelings for Jun-hyung too,” he summarized. Hoshi scoffed, remembering his conversation with Wonwoo from a few weeks ago.

“Do you still want to question Jun?” he asked, Dino nodding quickly in response. “Get someone else to question him, I’m going to talk to Wonwoo instead. I feel like his side will be pretty important,” he suggested.

“Who should I ask?”

“Jeonghannie-hyung is always a safe option,” Hoshi shrugged. Agreeing, Dino snuck over to Jeonghan’s room.

“Hyung! I have a favor,” he asked, the second oldest sighing deeply.

“Favors aren’t free, Channie-ah,” he taunted.

“Alright, I’ll take you out for lunch, whatever you want!” he insisted. Jeonghan shook his head, wagging a finger at his member. Dino groaned as he rolled his eyes. “What do you want then?” he frowned. Jeonghan pulled out his phone and pointed it at him.

“Blackmail,” he replied bluntly. “Do the ottoke song—and you have to smile!” he ordered.

“You don’t even know what the favor is! How could you possibly know if that’s a fair trade?” he whined.

“Well think about it. How big is this favor and what are the chances that I’ll make you do something worst once I know what it is?” Jeonghan questioned, giving a small shrug. Dino paused as he contemplated his options.

“Okay, fine!” he sighed. As Dino sang the song, overexaggerating his movements as much as possible, Jeonghan smiled happily.

“Alright, what do you need?” he asked, as he replayed the video to make sure the video was what he wanted. Still pouting, Dino slapped his hand, urging him to put his phone away. “Sorry, sorry. What is it?” he asked again, this time genuinely.

“I need you to ask Junnie-hyung what has been bothering him lately. Specifically related to Minghao-hyung, but honestly in general is fine. Then I need you to tell me what he tells you,” he stated. Without a word, Jeonghan picked up his phone and typed something. After he finished, he looked back up to Dino.

“You better leave now unless you want to run into him,” he informed, showing his phone screen. Quickly, Dino darted out of the room, running back into Hoshi’s to avoid crossing his roommate. Just as Jeonghan said, Jun entered his room.

“You called?” he hummed playfully, waving the message on his phone. Jeonghan had an obviously fake smile across his face—one that he wore for formality. Without saying a word, he waved Jun over, the Chinese member complying without question.

“Do you want to tell me what has been bugging you?” he asked, his fake smile still painted across his lips. Jun wore a blank expression as he didn’t respond. “Is it about Mingyu?” he asked. At first, Jun shook his head no before stopping and slowly nodding. “Is it also about Minghao?” He nodded again. “Then start,” he said, motioning at him. Jun lowered his eyes, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“I think I fell in love with Mingyu—” Jeonghan blinked in shock, his smile immediately fading. He definitely wasn’t expecting this. “After spending time with him and trying to help him with his problem I started… he’s just…” Jun stopped as he found himself at a loss for words.

“What does this have to do with Minghao?” Jeonghan asked, going back to the favor Dino wanted.

“Nothing?” Jun replied confused. “I was conflicted for several reasons, they are not connected though,” he explained.

“Then what happened between you?”

“It’s a lot: do you want me to explain _everything_?” he questioned. The older member nodded his head. “Well, Minghao and I have been friends with benefits since early pre-debut—” Jeonghan was beyond shock, but just nodded once again, keeping a stone face. “Recently, he started getting interested in love and eventually he ended our… _thing_ , because he fell for Wonwoo. I was worried about Minghao getting heart broken, so I told Wonwoo about it. Minghao obviously wasn’t happy with that—I can’t blame him though—and the two of us haven’t talked to each other since,” he sighed, scratching the back of his head. “Oh, and Wonwoo and I made out with each other before Minghao told me about his crush, which is one reason why I felt super guilty and like I had to intervene,” he added.

Jeonghan took a deep breath, still unconsciously nodding his head. His mind was racing as he tried to process everything he just heard. “Do you want comfort or advise?” he finally stated.

“Neither; it was just nice to get it off my chest,” he replied, giving him a small smile. “Did you want to ask me anything else?”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Jeonghan replied, scrunching up his face. He suddenly gave Jun a hug, the Chinese member laughing awkwardly as he hugged him back. “You’re free to leave now,” he said motioning to the door. Jun giggled as he nodded his head and got up. Before he opened the door, he turned around.

“Thank you, hyung.” His face was soft, his eyes crinkled into a light smile. Jeonghan grinned back, waving him away. After he heard the second door close, Jeonghan got up and went to Hoshi’s room.

“What the hell is going on?” he whispered shouted at the two Performance Unit members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the person who asked for more JunHao: next chapter, I promise! I fully intended to put some more moments of them but setting up took the whole chapter. I have midterms this week and next week (one today actually) so next chapter will be uploaded on Thursday to give me more time to write! 
> 
> Song Rec: "Ice & Fire" by ONF


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I was going to postpone this chapter to Thursday, but I got it done. Sorry it's such a mess, I had a bunch of exams, essays, and a speech I had to worry about (trying to graduate university is hard).

Wonwoo jolted awake at the subtle touch of another person. When he opened his eyes, he was met with Vernon standing in front of him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” the younger member stated moving beside him on the couch. “Mingyu-hyung is meeting with Woozi-hyung and Bumzu-hyung now. Seungcheolie-hyung and manager-nim went to go get some dinner,” he informed. “You can go back to sleep if you want.” Wonwoo shook his head as he sat up nicely.

“It’s okay,” he mumbled, his words coming out in a slur as he pushed away his sleep. “Did your lyrics get approved?” he asked.

“Yup, what about yours?” Wonwoo shook his head.

“Don’t blame them, I wouldn’t pass them either,” he replied honestly.

“Why not? I didn’t think they were bad,” Vernon pouted. Wonwoo chuckled at the younger members reaction, reaching out to mess with his hair.

“You’re right, they weren’t bad,” he smiled. “They just didn’t fit the concept. I was a bit too focused on myself that I didn’t think about the song as a whole, you know?” he hummed, Vernon nodding his head. The two of them talked about music and lyrics for a while before the room slowly fell back into silence. Wonwoo paused for a second before clearing his throat. “By the way, remember the thing I told you about Minghao?” he questioned.

“That he had feelings for you?” he stated confused on where the conversation was going.

“Yea, turns out he doesn’t actually. It was a misunderstanding. I just wanted you to know so that you didn’t have the wrong idea,” he explained. Vernon nodded slowly as he turned to stare at the floor. The day before, Dokyeom spilled everything to be him and Seungkwan. He only meant to tell Vernon what Mingyu told him, but accidentally slipped and said that Mingyu returned Minghao’s feelings, implying Minghao had actually liked Mingyu. Speaking of the devil, Mingyu walked out of the studio, Woozi and Bumzu in tow.

“You boys head home and get some rest. Good work today,” Bumzu praised, patting each of them on the back. “Make sure this one goes home and gets some rest. If I find him asleep in his studio one more time, I am going to lock him out,” he added pointing at Woozi who brushed away his hand. The Hip-Hop unit members laughed as they walked out of the building, their leader and manger picking them up. As all of them except Vernon entered the 1st dorm, they were welcome by Hoshi who was seated on Wonwoo’s living room bed.

“You, bastard, we need to talk,” Hoshi stated informally as he pointed a finger at the bespectacled rapper.

“Bastard? What did I do?” he frowned as he walked up to Hoshi, the others quickly escaping to their rooms. Hoshi clicked his tongue as he stood, the two of them several centimeters away.

“We’re going for a walk,” he stated as he walked pass him towards the door.

“It’s late,” Wonwoo argued, although he followed.

“It won’t be long.” The two of them left the dormitory, walking with masks on and their hoods up. The streets were mostly empty, the glow from neon signs, 24-hour shops, and streetlamps gave them clear view of the pavement. Hoshi was walking ahead of him, his pace quick although aimless.

“What’s wrong?” the rapper asked after several minutes of following in silence. Hoshi let out a frustrated sigh as he whirled around to face him.

“I’m supposed to be your best friend, right? You tell me your problems, right?” he questioned, very obviously hurt over something.

“Of course you are. What happened?” he said, genuinely concern. Hoshi pouted, his anger washing into disappointed.

“Then tell me what the hell is happening between you and Minghao.” Wonwoo took a deep breath as he turned away and scratched his head. “Also tell me what’s happening between you and Mingyu. And you and Jun while we’re at it,” he added, walking around Wonwoo so he was standing in front of him again.

“You already seem like you know something,” he replied back with a frown.

“It doesn’t count unless you tell me,” Hoshi said. Without saying anything, Wonwoo grabbed Hoshi’s hand, leading him to a park where the two of them sat down on a bench. Wonwoo placed his head on Hoshi’s shoulder, still holding his hand.

“I started getting feelings for Jun. I didn’t tell you only because it was recent, and I wasn’t sure if it meant anything. If I thought it was serious, I would have told you. Really, I would have,” he insisted, squeezing the dancer’s hand. “Minghao and I talked; he doesn’t have feelings for me. He wanted us to say who we liked, as a sort of way to make peace. Things with Mingyu have been pretty shaky and I was considering pursuing things with Jun, so I told him I liked Jun. He told me he like Mingyu though,” he paused. “It wasn’t really a surprise. The two of them have always been extremely close; it kind of made sense,” he said softly, lifting his head and turning the Hoshi. “That’s all,” he concluded with a shrug.

“I’m sorry I got angry and cursed at you,” Hoshi whispered. Wonwoo laughed and pinched his cheeks.

“Look at this baby being all cute and sad for throwing a tantrum,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood. Laughing, Hoshi pushed away his hand.

“As long as you’re not mad at me for being mad at you,” he replied, pulling Wonwoo up with him as they started heading home. He wanted to tell him everything he knew, but he still didn’t think it was his place to intervene. The four of them could figure it out on their own—at least he hoped they could.

* * *

It was the Vocal Units turn to meet with Woozi and Bumzu, the Hip-Hop and Performance members being sent home early. Minghao had taken Dino’s words to heart but wasn’t quite sure where to start. When they arrived back at the dorm, Minghao silently stared at Jun’s back. Unconsciously, he reached out, grabbing Jun’s hand. The older member turned around, blinking in shock at Minghao. Quickly, he retracted his hand back. “C-can we talk?” he stuttered out.

“Sure,” he replied softly, motioning Minghao to lead him to his room.

“I want to apologize,” Minghao started as Jun closed the door. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry—” Jun grabbed him by the shoulder, quickly shaking his head.

“No! I should be the one who apologizes. I shouldn’t have told Wonwoo,” he said. Immediately, he pulled away, dropping his gaze in shame. Minghao sighed as he raised Jun’s face, giving him a small smile.

“Don’t keep blaming yourself. Wonwoo-hyung and I talked—” he paused, remembering Dino’s advice. “I’ve moved on,” he said. Jun’s face sudden changed, his timidness fading away immediately.

“Did he reject you?” he asked, a protectiveness lingering in his voice. Minghao shook his head—mildly fearing for Wonwoo’s safety.

“I just realized that maybe I wasn’t in love with him,” he concluded simply. Although clearly hesitant, Jun accepted his explanation. “I’m not mad at you. So, can we just go back to being normal, instead of awkward and scared?” he asked.

“Of course,” Jun grinned, nodding his head enthusiastically. “I’m glad we’re back to normal. I miss spending time with you.” Slowly, Minghao brushed his hands against his cheek, slipping it to the back of his head. He pulled Jun into a light kiss; the older member’s eyes growing wide.

“Last one,” Minghao said as he pulled away. “The one we had before this was pretty bad,” he explained. He felt guilty when thinking about Wonwoo. Although, it’s not like he was getting ahead or anything; a kiss was pretty standard between them. Jun’s heart suddenly thumped as he brought his fingers to his lips. It felt like forever since he kissed Minghao and a sudden yearning ignited within him. With a deep breath, he calmed those feelings, instead, pulling Minghao into a hug.

“I missed you,” he whispered, nuzzling his face against his hair. Minghao giggled, squeezing him back.

“Me too,” he hummed. 

* * *

BooSeokSoon and Woozi walked out of the Pledis meeting room after discussing more details about their unit comeback. It was already late at night, the other members back home waiting for them. “You guys can go back first, I want to work on some stuff before calling it a day,” Woozi said as he headed towards his studio.

“We’ll stay. If we leave without you, I’m afraid you’ll never come home,” Hoshi replied, the other two agreeing. The three of them went to their usual practice room, warning Woozi that he had about two hours to work before they forcibly dragged him away. As the gag trio entered the room and sat around, Dokyeom was the first to speak.

“We need to have an intervention,” he declared. Hoshi and Seungkwan turned to each other in confusion.

“Intervention for what?” the oldest asked, turning to their unit leader.

“About Minghao, Mingyu, Wonwoo, and Jun,” he said matter-of-a-fact-ly.

“You can’t have an intervention for people who aren’t here and is it really our place to intervene?” he frowned. It had been a week since his late-night talk with Wonwoo. Probably thanks to their maknae, everything was back to normal in the Performance Unit. Minghao and Wonwoo hung out a lot less, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing nor did the two of them act out of character when they did.

“At this rate, yes,” Dokyeom huffed, crossing his arms. With a long sigh, Hoshi shook his head.

“Is it that important?” he said.

“I agree with him, hyung,” Seungkwan chimed in. “Usually it’s alright for members to keep secrets and deal with their problems, but we have a comeback soon and none of them seem ready to talk.” Hoshi didn’t say anything as he laid flat on the floor, looking up at the bright lights of the practice room. He already knew Wonwoo’s worries, Minghao’s from Dino, and Jun’s from Jeonghan.

“What do you guys know? I’ll tell you everything I’ve heard,” he agreed with resignation. The three of them spent the next hour retelling everything they were told and heard, as well as who already knew what. Hoshi kindly omitted the actions done between certain members—feeling it was unnecessary to invade their privacy that much. “So Minghao _does_ like Jun,” Hoshi hummed softly, it kind of felt good knowing he was right all along.

“So Minghao and Wonwoo-hyung both like the same people,” Dokyeom hummed, the gears in his head turning.

“And Mingyu likes both of them,” Seungkwan groaned. “How the hell are we supposed to help them?” he shouted, throwing his arms up in the air dramatically.

“That’s why I said we shouldn’t intervene!” the dancer yelled, shaking Seungkwan by the shoulders. “We can’t wingman any of them because then we’ll be picking sides and that’s not fair to the other member!” The three of them sat in silence, racking their brains for a perfect solution, but nothing came.

“I have an idea, but I don’t know how good of an idea it is,” Seungkwan mumbled.

“Go for it, anything is better than nothing!” Dokyeom exclaimed, the oldest of the three listening tentatively.

“Well, I think we should just tell Minghao-hyung and Wonwoo-hyung each other’s crushes. I _know_ it’s an evasion of privacy, but I think it would make things easier on them. The two of them feel conflicted with their own love interests because they’re too caught up on thinking about how it will affect the other. If Wonwoo-hyung and Minghao-hyung just talk it out, maybe they’ll come to an understanding,” he said, unsure of the last part.

“You know what? I agree,” Hoshi stated. He knew for certain that the two were mature enough to not let boys get in the way of their friendship and especially not in the way of the group. He also much preferred if Minghao and Wonwoo were the two figuring out their situation rather than the other members.

“What do we do about Mingyu then?” Dokyeom asked. Immediately, Hoshi frowned, waving his hand.

“No clue, but I’m not going to get involve with that. I don’t want to effect his opinion too much,” he replied, the other two agreeing. After making plans about what to do, the three of them left the practice room to Woozi’s studio. The shorter member was mumbling lyric to him, replaying the same part of a track over and over again. “Jihoonie, let’s go,” Hoshi hollered, grabbing his shoulders. Woozi groaned but quickly jotted stuff down and saved his progress.

“Wow, he didn’t put up a fight!” Dokyeom grinned, wrapping his arm him.

“I’m too tired to fight with _you_ three,” he scoffed, side-eying them. The three laughed as they gave praise to their exhausted producer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I tried my best, I'm sorry if its rushed or messy! 
> 
> Song Rec: "반박불가 (No diggity)" By ONEUS


	17. Chapter 17

Minghao sat alone in his room flipping through the pages of the book Wonwoo lent him. He finished it days ago but couldn’t find the courage to talk to Wonwoo. Although nothing was technically amiss between them, it was hard to hide his subtle awkwardness. Suddenly, Seungkwan poked his head into the room. “Hyung?” he sang. Minghao grinned as he slid the book aside, motioning Seungkwan into his room.

“Yes?” he giggled as the younger member suddenly hugged him. Seungkwan nuzzled his head against him.

“How are you?” he asked sweetly.

“I’m okay, I have some thoughts, but nothing too burdening,” he replied honestly. “How are you?” Seungkwan gave a small shrug, as he nestled his chin onto the Chinese’s member’s shoulder. “Is something bothering you?” he said starting to worry a little as he placed a small kiss on the main vocalist’s head.

“I’m contemplating,” he replied. “If you’re in a good mood, I don’t want to give you something heavy to weigh on your mind,” he explained.

“Don’t you think saying that would already weigh on my mind?” he taunted. Seungkwan pursued his lips and nodded somberly.

“I only said that because now I _have_ to say it,” he reasoned, although he didn’t continue. They sat snuggled together, Minghao patiently waiting for Seungkwan to form words. “What I’m about to say is only because I care about you and is coming from a place of concern and love,” he prefaced.

“You’re scaring me Seungkwan-ah,” Minghao hummed, half joking, half serious.

“Don’t ask me how I know what I know,” he stated.

“Alright,” he agreed still very confuse.

“You know how you told me and Seokmin-ah that you had feelings for both Mingyu-hyung and Jun-hyung?” Minghao nodded. “I know Wonwoo-hyung told you he like Junnie-hyung—” Minghao’s blood went cold in his veins as a shiver shot through his spine. “He lied… kind of,” he stated. “He does like Junnie-hyung, but he _also_ likes Mingyu-hyung too. You two like the same two people.” The dancer blinked in surprise. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this new knowledge. “I think you two should talk,” he suggested.

“Talk?” he echoed back.

“I know you two have been a little distant lately. Am I wrong to think that this is why?” Seungkwan asked. When the older member didn’t reply, he continued. “Break the ice. I think you two will have a better understanding of one another,” he advised. Running his fingers through his hair, he sighed.

“And if I don’t want to?” he questioned, Seungkwan finally releasing him from his embraced.

“Nothing,” he replied with a shrug, his lips still pouty. “I won’t force you; there’s no reason to force you two to talk. You know what you know, if you want to leave it at that I can respect it,” he added as he stood up. He cupped Minghao’s face and place a kiss on his forehead. “Talk to me if you need to,” he comforted, letting go.

“Thank you,” he whispered, softly reaching up to touch his forehead.

“I love you hyung,” Seungkwan said poking the spot he kissed him.

“I love you too,” he replied as he raised his head and smiled at him. Satisfied, the younger member nodded his head and left the room. Groaning, Minghao threw himself backwards onto his bed. As he laid down, his head bumped something. Reaching out from underneath his head, he raised the book above his face. _Fate_. He let out a sigh as he brought it down to his chest and hugged it. He knew what he had to do.

* * *

A sudden weight was laying heavy across Wonwoo’s body. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t surprised to see Hoshi laying on him, looking up with puppy eyes. Just as they agreed, Hoshi went to find Wonwoo as Seungkwan had his conversation with Minghao. “Hello my dearest Wonwoo-yah. Can we talk?” he asked. Grumbling with sleepiness, Wonwoo shoved him off the bed and sat up.

“Sure, let’s go,” he agreed, knowing Hoshi would just continue to bug him. Hoshi led the way to his room, preemptively asking Vernon to hang out somewhere else for a while. As they walked, the rapper suddenly smirked. “We have been talking quite a bit lately; don’t tell me this is about _my_ problem again?” he asked, amused by the situation. Hoshi shrugged, giving Wonwoo a teasing look.

“You’ll find out in a minute,” he replied as he unlocked the front door. The two of them entered his room, Wonwoo taking a seat at the edge of Vernon’s bed, facing Hoshi who sat on his own.

“As you noticed during our nighttime talk, I obviously know more than I am telling you,” Hoshi stated. Wonwoo cocked an eyebrow as he tilted his head and waited. “I… I feel guilty forcing you to tell me your side without sharing at least some of what I know,” he sighed. The main dancer wasn’t lying. He genuinely felt bad for lashing out at Wonwoo just because he didn’t tell him. Especially when he knew he was hypocritically withholding information from him.

“Are you going to tell me or…?”

“Just give me a second,” he mumbled, trying to plan the best way to say it. Hoshi cursed to himself as he threw his arms into the air. Words were hard to use. “Minghao likes Jun too,” he blurted out, unable to think of a better way to say it.

“He told me he liked Mingyu—”

“He does. He likes both of them. Like you,” Hoshi replied, cutting him off. “He probably got spooked by you saying you liked Jun, so he panicked and only mentioned Mingyu because he didn’t realize you _also_ like Mingyu,” he further explained. Wonwoo started blankly before he let out a small chuckle and turned away.

“I would have never guessed,” he smiled softly, fiddling with his hands in embarrassment. “I guess you were right that Minghao liked Jun,” he added, glancing up at Hoshi.

“I didn’t want to rub it him,” Hoshi teased with a cheeky grin.

“I should probably talk with him. Just to clear things up,” he suggested, returning back to the conversation. Hoshi nodded his head before stopping himself and shrugging.

“It really is up to you. I am sure there is no hard feelings between you two as it is, but I do think it’s a nice idea,” he said.

“Thanks Soonyoungie,” Wonwoo smiled. He got up from Vernon’s bed, suddenly tackling Hoshi down. “You worry so much about me,” he hummed happy. Hoshi wrapped his arms around him and chuckled.

“You keep to yourself too much, you know?” he teased.

“You being an open booking isn’t any better,” he joked back, pulling himself off of his friend. “I really do appreciate you worrying about me though,” he said, getting to his feet.

“Honestly, I would rather not get too involve in your problems. But, as a good hyung, I have to take care of you,” he smirked.

“One month. You’re older by one month,” he frowned. He tried to flick Hoshi’s forehead, but the dancer grabbed his wrist and laughed. The two struggle a bit, before Wonwoo sighed. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” he suddenly stated, getting serious again.

“Thank you,” Hoshi whispered. He really didn’t want to force Wonwoo to talk to Minghao, so he was grateful that the rapper wanted to do it on his own accord. Wonwoo patted him on the shoulder as he walked out of the room. He knew what he had to do. He walked down the hallway and stopped outside of Minghao’s door. While he fully intended to talk to the younger member, his heart suddenly sank. He placed a hand on the door, letting out a heavy sigh. He needed time.

* * *

After returning from the company the following day, Minghao stared at the borrowed book left beside his bed. Taking a deep breath, he left his room and headed towards the 1st floor dorm, book in hand. As he was walking down the stair, he suddenly froze at the sight of the very person he was heading down to see. Wonwoo stood several steps below him, eyes wide. “Heading to the 2nd dorm?” the younger member asked softly, motioning behind him. Wonwoo nodded, still speechless. “I was going down to return this to you,” he said as he gestured to the book.

“I was going up to talk to you,” he stated.

“Oh…” Minghao dropped his head, his face turning pink. Silently, Wonwoo walked up the steps until he was standing directly in front of him.

“Can we?” he asked. Minghao could hear the nervousness in his voice and that put him more at ease.

“Sure,” he said, finally lifting his head to meet the older member’s eyes. As they entered his room, Minghao sat down, placing the book in his lab. “Can I go first actually?” he questioned, holding eyes with Wonwoo. He nodded, taking a seat beside Minghao, reaching to hold one of his hands. “I think we want to talk about the same thing,” he hummed, running his thumb along the back of Wonwoo’s hand.

“I’m pretty sure of it too,” he said mild amusement lacing his voice.

“So what do you think about it?” he asked.

“Honestly, I think it’s pretty funny,” he smirked. Minghao raised his head to look at his smiling face, scoffing softly.

“How so?”

“Well,” he mumbled thoughtfully. “I always knew we were pretty similar—we’re even the same personality type. I just think it’s funny that of all the people we could have fallen for, not only do we like the same person, we like the same _two_ people,” he mused. “Who knew our taste was so similar?” Minghao giggled a bit as he nodded his head.

“So you’re not upset about it?” he questioned timidly.

“Why would I be upset?” he cooed, petting Minghao’s face with his other hand. “I can’t blame you for falling for them, _either_ of them. We probably even fell for the same reasons. I’m not going to fight you for their attention, I won’t be jealous over anything,” he comforted. “I mean yea, it _is_ a little weird, but its nothing to be mad about,” he added. “Don’t tell me you’re upset—” Minghao shook his head vigorously.

“Of course not! I can’t blame you for falling for them either,” he sighed. He really didn’t blame Wonwoo, but it did leave him with a feeling of uncertainty. “Can I actually ask you something I have been wondering about for a while?” he said, pulling Wonwoo’s hand from his face.

“Sure, anything. I feel like at this point secrets are only hurting us,” he replied. Minghao took a deep breath before continuing.

“I know that you and Jun kissed a while ago, I want to know why,” he asked. Wonwoo tensed at the question, his ears burning red.

“Oh, did he tell you about it?” he questioned in return. Minghao shook his head, hesitating to tell the truth.

“Mingyu told me,” he said quietly. Wonwoo blinked in surprise, scratching the back of his neck.

“I did it as a favor. He wanted to see if he could fall in love by pretending to be—whatever that means,” he answered. Suddenly, Minghao covered his face and groaned.

“That’s probably my fault: I was the one who asked him that question. I didn’t think he would do something like that,” he mumbled behind his hands. Wonwoo chuckled as he gently pried his hands away.

“I’m sorry for kissing Jun. I know there’s no reason for me to apologize, but I feel kind of bad knowing you like him now,” he said with a small awkward smile.

“If you think that’s bad…” Minghao muttered under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief. “Wonwoo-hyung, because we both like the same people, I feel like I have to tell you this. So please, try not to freak out.” With that Minghao explained how him and Jun had a long-lasting friends with benefits relationship that he recently ended because he started growing romantic feelings for Jun. He also explained his one-night fun with Mingyu after they got drunk. Wonwoo nodded his head the whole time, taking in the information at face value. While he was definitely shocked by how far the members went, he genuinely felt nothing negative towards the younger member.

“Looks like you got a head start from me,” he teased, trying to cheer up a sullen looking Minghao.

“Oh please, none of it meant anything,” he sighed. Suddenly, he got flicked on the forehead. Minghao jumped, cupping the sore spot and looking up to Wonwoo who was smiling fondly.

“That’s okay, that just means we still have an equal chance. I’m sure one of us is bound to win either of their hearts,” he stated.

“No hard feelings if only one of us do?” he asked in a soft voice.

“Of course. Romance could never get in between of our friendship,” he comforted. The two of them embraced, a weight lifted off of their chest. Even if their love lives didn’t go either of the ways they wanted, they were happy knowing they at least had friends to lean on. “I know it may be weird to do so, but I wouldn’t mind if you talked to me more about the other two. I feel like we can understand each other better than others would,” Wonwoo invited.

“You know, I think that would be nice. The offer is extended to you too, hyung,” he agreed. As Wonwoo got up, he returned to him his book. However, before the older member could walk out, Minghao stopped him. He hurried to his book collection, pulling one off the shelf and handing it to him as well. “I don’t know if its your type, but I really wanted to lend you something as well,” he said bashfully, his lips uncontrollably curled, cheeks pink.

“Thank you,” he grinned. “This time, genuinely, good luck with your feelings.”

“You too.” For a moment, the two of them stared silently into each other’s eyes. Once again, Wonwoo pulled him into another hug before he left the room. Minghao sighed in relief, falling onto his bed feeling lighter than he had in months. While it certainly was weird knowing someone else had feelings for the same people he did, it was oddly nice knowing that out of everyone, it was Wonwoo.

Part of him felt conflicted pursuing his crushes—afraid of hurting Wonwoo—but the other part knew that the older member was being genuine when he said he harbored no ill feeling. He was grateful for how gentle Wonwoo was with him and his constant attempt at keeping the conversation lighthearted. While he would undoubtably be at least a little broken hearted if either Mingyu or Jun reciprocated Wonwoo’s feelings and not his own, Minghao concluded he would be fine. He was just happy things seemed to be going back to normal between him and his members. He could deal with heartbreak if that meant he still had his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about my life: I have actually had it where two of my friends and I liked the same person. We were luckily not competitive about it and even had good will when one of us started dating them!
> 
> Song rec: "안아줄게 (Burn It)" by Golden Child & "Odd Eye" By Dreamcatcher  
> (There has been an insane amount of amazing comebacks this months and it makes it difficult to pick one to recommend!)


	18. Chapter 18

The two younger members of the Hip-Hop unit laid splayed out, entangling their limbs as they cuddled on the couch in the recording room. Wonwoo was off by himself, reworking his lyrics, while S.coups was having an impromptu meeting with the staff in an attempt to get another day off before Woozi imploded from lack of rest. They were both looking at their phones, sharing funny clips with one another as they jammed out to music. The two of them haven’t had the opportunity to spend time together one on one in a while and they were both relishing in the quality time they got together.

“By the way hyung, I heard something weird a while ago,” Vernon said. Curiously, Mingyu looking up from his phone.

“What was it?” he chimed, still smiling innocently. Vernon hesitated for a moment, but decided it was best to be upfront.

“I heard that Minghao-hyung didn’t actually like Wonwoo-hyung,” he stated. Immediately, Mingyu’s heart sank as he remembered his conversation with Dokyeom.

“Is that so,” he hummed, locking his phone, and placing it softly in his lap.

“I heard that hyung actually likes you.” Mingyu’s heart began slamming against his chest as a mixture of panic and joy flooded his senses.

“Are you sure?” he asked finally tearing his eyes away.

“Definitely sure,” he replied, noticing the happiness twinkling in Mingyu’s eyes. A feeling of doubt crept into Mingyu’s mind, the same thought he had with Dokyeom. Minghao clearly liked someone else when they drank all those nights ago.

Are you sure you are sure?” he persisted.

“Yes, I am very, very sure,” he answered. Chewing on his lower lip, Mingyu contemplated. He desperately wanted to believe Vernon, but at the same time, things didn’t add up. Did Minghao suddenly fall in love with him? Did they both fall after that night? Then why did he claim he liked Wonwoo? “Do you believe me?” Vernon asked, snapping him back to the present moment. The younger male noticed the way his eyes shifted, signifying him being deep in thought.

“I don’t know. First you said he liked hyung and now he suddenly likes me,” he mumbled.

“I’m not too sure about the whole Wonwoo-hyung thing either to be honest. But if you really don’t trust me ask Seokmin-hyung or Seungkwannie,” he said, feeling slightly bad for throwing the other two under the bus. Mingyu contemplated for a moment before shaking his head.

“We can worry about that another time,” he said as he shuffled around to hug Vernon. “I don’t want to think about this,” he sighed, nuzzling his head into the crook of the other’s member’s neck. Vernon stroked his hair in comfort as he returned his attention to his phone. Not too long after, S.coups called them to the other practice room for dinner.

As the thirteen of them sat around in a circle eating, S.coups gave a run down of the meeting. The company agreed to give them an extra day off the following week. Woozi was quick to argue that he was fine, but the others quickly placated him. “You have time, stop freaking out over deadlines,” Hoshi soothed, patting his back. Taking a deep breath, Woozi submitted to the others pestering, knowing it was indeed better for him at the end of the day. Plus, he would never complain about getting a day of sleep.

After they finished eating—while still on their break—Mingyu grabbed Dokyeom’s arm and pulled him out of the practice room, motioning Seungkwan to follow. The two main vocalist glanced at each other as they watched the taller member pace back and forth. “Mingyu-yah, is something wrong?” Dokyeom asked, grabbing his hand and softly shaking it.

“I just—I need to know something,” he stated. His tone was quick, obviously panicked. “Does… does Minghao… like me?” he stuttered out. Instinctively, Seungkwan eyes perked open, his chin jutting forward. Dokyeom turned to the younger vocalist who gestured wildly to him in confusion.

“Why are you asking this?” the older of the two questioned, not yet ready to release that information.

“Just, you know!” he said, unsure how to explain himself. Mingyu fidgeted, shifting from one foot to the other afraid to look them in the eyes. Dokyeom and Seungkwan stared at each other, trying to speak with their eyes. With a deep sigh, Seungkwan scratched his head.

“You’re right,” he said bluntly. Immediately, Mingyu lifted his head, his cheeks glowing pink.

“Ah,” he whispered. Slowly, he lowered his eyes again, an uncontrollable smile appearing on his lips.

“Anything else, hyung?” Mingyu shook his head. His lips were pursed as he tried to hide his glee.

“Let’s get back,” he stated, leading them back to the practice room. At the sound of the door opening, Minghao looked up, meeting eyes with Mingyu. Immediately the rapper looked away, grasping at his cheeks as he stood beside a grinning Vernon.

“You’re obvious—” Mingyu quickly shushed him.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, eyes lingering fondly at the Chinese member. For the rest of the evening, Mingyu stole glances at Minghao, fleeing whenever he got too close. Confuse, but not too concerned, Minghao let it slide, pretending he didn’t notice Mingyu’s odd behavior. When they broke up into their special unit groups, Mingyu refused to make eye contact with either Wonwoo—out of guilt—or Minghao—out of embarrassment. He clung to Jun’s arm, resting his head on his shoulder, and mindlessly playing with his hand. As the four of them sat with Woozi, the producer took note of his behavior.

“We have the majority of the song written, we just need Mingyu’s part,” he notified as they listened to the working version.

“I’m sorry, I’ll get on that,” he apologized, Jun patting his knee in comfort. He had been meaning to work on it but, after Vernon originally told him that Minghao had feels for Wonwoo, he didn’t have the courage ask Minghao for the demo.

“Good,” Woozi stated firmly. They talked more about the details of the song, Woozi wanting to raise the key for Jun’s part to show off his falsetto and contrast it with Wonwoo’s deep voice. For a moment, Jun was worried about his capabilities, talking down on his own skills. However, the other three were quick to encourage him. “Just do what is most comfortable for your voice. I don’t want you to strain yourself,” Woozi said, scribbling down notes for himself.

After Woozi had a short checkpoint meeting with all the special units, the thirteen of them went home together. Woozi complained the entire ride home, but immediately broke into a smile when he collapsed onto his bed after a shower. It had been a long time since he got to relax back at the dorm. After Mingyu showered, he walked back into the room drying his hair with a towel. “So what’s wrong with you?” Woozi asked bluntly, catching Mingyu by surprise.

“Nothing is wrong,” he replied in confusion.

“Really? So you aren’t going to tell me why you’re suddenly lovesick for Minghao and scared of Wonwoo?” Mingyu dropped his towel as he clumsily climbed up Woozi’s bed to cover his mouth, glancing at their door.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, slowly removing his hand.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because you seem angry.” Woozi smirked at that reply as he sat up on his bed.

“I wouldn’t be angry if you’d just talk to me,” he snarked. Mingyu pouted, as he walked over to his bed and sat down facing the old member.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” he repeated.

“Don’t apologize and just tell me what’s wrong,” he replied, his voice suddenly calm. Even with that, Mingyu said nothing. Woozi frowned as he laid back down, staring up at his ceiling. “Alright,” he hummed as he went on his phone, dropping the conversation. After a few minutes, Mingyu crawled into Woozi’s bed. “What?” he frowned.

“Don’t be upset with me,” he whined, lying flat on top of him so Woozi couldn’t push him off. “I didn’t tell you because you’ve been so caught up with the comeback. You’re rarely ever home and when we talk, it’s about the album. Even if I want to talk to you, my problems are not worth your time. You have _way_ more important things to worry about. Plus, the spare moments you have to yourself, I would much rather you just relax than be fixated on my boy problems,” he explained. Woozi didn’t say anything immediately. He wiggled one arm out from underneath the giant, flicking him hard on the forehead before stroking his hair.

“I always have time for you,” he stated softly. Mingyu looked up to him with tears in his eyes, half from being touch and the other half from pain.

“Your words are so sweet, hyung. This is why you’re the genius producer,” he sniffled, burying his face into Woozi’s chest. The older member groan, as he finally shoved him off and sat up.

“Stop being so sappy,” he complained, although, it was obvious he was happy. “Are you going to tell me what’s been happening now?” he asked. With a deep sigh, Mingyu sat up and nodded his head. He then proceeded to explain what had been happening the past month. In actuality, Woozi already knew everything. During late-night work breaks, Woozi and Hoshi would often gossip, Hoshi spilling everything to the other 96-liner.

“Do you have any plans to confess then?” Woozi asked. Mingyu shrugged in response.

“I’d like to, but I really don’t know if now is the best time,” he said hesitantly. “I’m just going to wait it out. I won’t force it or anything. If an opportunity presents itself, I’ll take it as the universe rooting for me!” he stated with determination. Woozi smiled as he laid down, turning his back towards Mingyu.

“Don’t forget to come crying to me when you need to,” he teased, glancing at him over his shoulder.

“Of course, maybe you can make a song out of my heartbreak,” he joked back. He climbed out of Woozi’s bed and turned off the lights. “Goodnight, Jihoonie-hyung… thanks for listening to me,” he smiled, getting situated in his bed.

“Don’t sweat it,” he replied back.

“Now that I think about it; how is your love life going?” the rapper asked, genuinely curious about the older members’ relationship progress. After several moments of silence, Mingyu finally noticed the sound of soft snoring. Woozi has magically fallen asleep in an instant. With a soft chuckle, Mingyu laid awake on his bed thinking to himself. He had spent years pinning after Wonwoo. Years invested into creating a relationship with him. Years expecting something to happen with him. He suddenly felt hollow on the inside at the thought of giving it all up.

He didn’t want to move on yet. Even though he knew he loved Minghao and that Minghao had feelings for him too, he just wasn’t ready. He also knew that it wasn’t fair for him to confess to the other 97-liner if his heart didn’t completely belong to him. He wanted to move on more than anything, to find happiness with someone else, but he knew he couldn’t. He had been in love with Wonwoo longer than he had even known Minghao. Rolling over onto his side, Mingyu curled up into a ball. Before he even realized it, he was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of self-hate.

Was he really going to throw all those years away?

All of a sudden, Woozi jolted awake at the sensation of someone shaking him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, barely making out the shape of Mingyu peaking over the edge of his bed. “What time is it?” he grumbled. Sluggishly, Woozi reached for his phone to check the time. To his surprise, the soft glow of his phone luminated Mingyu’s tear stained face. “W-what happened?” he stuttered out, sitting up.

“Can I… can we just talk a little more?” he murmured, his voice barely there. Quickly, Woozi nodded his head, shifting to the side so the younger member could sit next to him. “I’m not sure if I’m ready…” he choked out, trying to rub the tears away.

“You don’t need to do anything if you’re not ready. You don’t need to do anything at all,” the older member comforted, rubbing his leg as Mingyu continued to cry silent tears. The rapper tried his best to explain himself, wanting to apologize for his sudden burst of emotions, but no words came. Several minutes passed and he took a deep breath, finally calming his nerves. “Do you still want to talk?” Woozi asked. Mingyu shook his head, carefully climbing down Woozi’s bed in the dark.

“Its okay. I just needed someone to sit with me while I cried. I’m okay now,” he stated, his voice finally was stable unlike before. “Thank you, hyung.” Woozi hummed softly in replied, not sure what more he could say. Mingyu feel asleep rather quickly this time, the emotional exhaustion knocking him out. Woozi contemplate for a moment, before deciding it was best to go to sleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a bonus chapter on Thursday! I should be able to upload biweekly again! 
> 
> Song rec: "Flower Fantasy" by N.Flying


	19. Bonus Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is late, I'm so sorry! I had a midterm exam and lost track of time because of Lunar New Years preparations. Anyways, its another SoonHoon chapter. I actually wrote this weeks ago when I was burning out on the main story (don't worry, I plan to see it through).

Out of concern, S.coups personally asked Hoshi to make sure Woozi came home every night. While Hoshi was just as irresponsible about overworking, he was less likely to be found asleep in the practice room. Woozi on the other hand, had not only been found asleep on his couch, but passed out in his computer chair. Hoshi was sitting on the couch, softly humming to the song that Woozi was working on. Suddenly, the shorted member groaned. Hoshi laughed as he turned to him. “Uji-ah, take a break. Let’s go home,” he chimed.

“Not yet,” he mumbled tiredly. Checking the time, Hoshi decided it was fine to stay a little later and turned his attention back to his phone.

“Jihoonie, it is getting really late,” Hoshi stated after forty minutes had passed.

“You can go home first if you’re tired,” he said without turning to him.

“I’m alright, I can wait,” he replied back. He promised S.coups not to tell Woozi that he was ordered to wait for him. “I don’t mind staying here with you,” he smiled—it was the truth anyways. Half turning his chair, Woozi met his eyes before returning to his original placement.

“Not going to drag me out for another self-care day?” he questioned. Hoshi laughed as he set his phone down.

“No. I much rather you get some self-care done back at the dorm,” he teased. He could faintly hear Woozi scoff, both pleased with his wit and annoyed with his persistence.

“Why do you care so much? I do this all the time,” he grumbled.

“Which is exactly why I’m worried about you. You need to find a better balance with work,” he frowned, although he felt guilty for his hypocrisy. Woozi didn’t reply and the two continued doing their own thing silently. Hoshi checked the time again and sighed. He knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Woozi to go home. “Hey Jihoon-ah?”

“What now?”

“You know that I love you right?” he asked, remembering their last late-night endeavor. It was a rhetorical question; he knew Woozi knew. He knew everyone already knew.

“How many times are you going to ask me this?” he replied nonchalantly.

“However many times I need to,” he said, watching Woozi’s carefully. He didn’t react physically, continuing to work on the song as if Hoshi had said nothing. “Just tell me if you don’t like me. I don’t want to wait forever.” He waited for a response—a reaction of any kind—but was met with silence. Taking a deep breath, Hoshi stood up and slowly walked towards him. He stopped right behind the chair, firmly grasping it with both hands. His eyes stared straight ahead at the screen, not glancing down at the producer at all.

“How long ago did you realized that I liked you?” Hoshi started. “A year ago? Two years ago? Three? Four? Five years? Maybe even six. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you.” Hoshi waited, a sudden irritation bubbling up at Woozi’s continued silence. “I don’t want to wait forever,” the words came out almost in a sob as Hoshi choked on the lump in his throat. He finally looked at Woozi, who was still focusing on his computer. With a self-deprecating chuckle of disappointment, he let go of the chair. “The others’ love life may be a mess, but at least they know whether or not they like each other,” Hoshi continued his monologue bitterly.

“I never asked you to love me,” Woozi suddenly replied.

“You never asked me to stop either,” he retorted. The room once again fell to silence, Hoshi realizing that the music had stopped playing for some time. “Should I move on?”

“Don’t!” Woozi tried to spin around to face him, but Hoshi quickly grabbed the chair again and turned him back. He didn’t want to see his face. He didn’t want to see what expression he was wearing. He didn’t want to know what kind of eyes he would have when he looked back up at him.

“How long will you make me wait?” he asked. “Because I would wait forever if you asked me to. I have loved you for so long and I can go on loving you every single day until the day I die, but I don’t want to wait if you never plan on loving me back,” he sighed, watching the back of his head intently.

“It’s not that I don’t already love you…” he whispered, his head in his hands.

“What are you so scared of then?”

“I have never been in a relationship before. I don’t know what to do,” he replied. Hoshi rolled his eyes.

“I haven’t been in one either!” he shouted.

“I don’t know how to be affectionate. I might not treat you right!” he yelled back. Woozi tried to stand, but, once again, Hoshi grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back down into his seat.

“Do you think I care about that?” his anger washed away into dejected resignation. “I just want to be with you. I just want you the way you are,” he assured. The room was quiet, and Hoshi accepted defeat. He released Woozi’s shoulder, walking back to his place on the couch. One again, he sighed, this time not out of frustration, but acceptance. Only Woozi could make him go through the five stages of grief in a matter of minutes. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep waiting,” he concluded, resting his head back and closing his eyes.

“I won’t make you wait forever,” Woozi said. Hoshi could hear the wheels of the chair roll against the floor before the sounds of hesitant footsteps. Woozi grabbed his shoulders and leaned towards him. He stopped centimeters away from Hoshi’s lips, chickening out and pressing a small kiss to his forehead. “Let’s go home,” he said pulling away. Hoshi opened his eyes to a blushing Woozi, who tried to hide his face behind one arm.

“I really could wait forever, Jihoon-ah,” he smiled as the two locked up the studio for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Lunar New Years for those who are celebrating! And once again, I'm so sorry for this being uploaded so late :(
> 
> Song Rec: "Tick Tock" by Day6


	20. Chapter 20

As if the world was repeating itself, Wonwoo and Minghao were suddenly together almost every waking moment. The two of them were enjoying one another’s company, taking pleasure in all the small things. At first, they avoided talking about their crushes, afraid that a wall would build up in between them due to jealousy. However, after a while, they both started to openly gush about cute or attractive things the others did. If there was ever going to be someone who understood what they felt, it would be each other.

Jun was noticeably off-putted by their sudden closeness. After Minghao told him that he moved on from Wonwoo, Jun had expected the two to be distant. Every time he saw them together, a protectiveness overcame him. He wanted to pull them apart, hold Minghao close to his chest and keep him safe—keep him happy. Yet, somehow, Wonwoo was the one making him happy. The younger member spent every minute with Wonwoo smiling. Part of him knew that his protectiveness was actually jealousy, but he wasn’t ready to think that through.

Mingyu was in the same boat. Even though the other members already confirmed that Minghao didn’t like Wonwoo anymore, he was confused on why they were always with each other. Above that, the two of them would whisper with one another, immediately bottling up when others got near. Already deeply conflicted about his own feelings, Mingyu couldn’t handle the thought of him being right; that the two of them were actually in love with one another the entire time.

One evening, Wonwoo and Minghao sat cuddled on the younger member’s bed, both working on their own things. Wonwoo was reworking his rap for the Hip-Hop unit’s song. Even after he got them approved, he wanted to make sure it was up to par. Beside him, Minghao was drawing, doodling away in his usual journal. After recording the demo for the special unit song, he was relieved of song writing duty. He had gone through a multitude of drafts and recordings, until both he and Woozi were satisfied. While he was still nervous considering who was put into his group, he was just happy to have been able to write a song.

The rapper glanced away from his notebook, watching the Chinese man draw. He smiled softly in awe, bumping his head against Minghao’s affectionately. “You really are like a cat,” he teased, as the older member continued butting against him. He reached up, running his fingers through Wonwoo’s hair, and scratching his head softly. Jokingly, Wonwoo purred in response. Minghao laughed as he pulled away. “Weirdo,” he snickered.

“What? Don’t like cats?” he joked back, nuzzling their foreheads together. Giggling, he patted Wonwoo on the head again. He stroked his fingers through his hair, gently cupping the back of his head. As Minghao opened his eyes, their gaze met. Slowly, his smile faded and the two of them stood frozen, gazing at one another. Suddenly, Wonwoo pulled away, a clear blush spreading to his ear. “Want to read my lyrics?” he asked out of nowhere.

“S-sure,” he stuttered, reaching out for the notebook. “Actually,” Minghao paused, turning to him. “Why don’t you rap it for me?” he suggested, a small smile back on his face. Wonwoo nodded his head as he took it back, giving Minghao a small performance. “It’s great,” he complimented, bring his knees to his chest.

“I’m glad you think so,” he grinned. “So have you talked to Jun or Mingyu lately?” he asked shyly. Minghao shook his head as leaned back against his headboard, staring up at the ceiling.

“No, not more than usual at least. Have you?”

“Haven’t found the courage to,” he replied. He wasn’t necessarily scared of talking to the two—nervous, yes, but not scared. He was more afraid about what Minghao would think if he did. He was suddenly overly aware of the way Minghao would glance at Jun and Mingyu and he didn’t want to be the reason that those looks stopped. He didn’t have it in him to break Minghao’s heart.

“Wouldn’t it suck? Liking two people but neither of them liking you back,” he sighed.

“You don’t know that,” Wonwoo said, elbowing him.

“Well if one liked me, wouldn’t that mean you got rejected?” he questioned, voicing what Wonwoo had been thinking about.

“That’s fine,” he shrugged. “As long as you guys are happy, I don’t need to be in a relationship,” he smiled.

“What if we both get rejected?” Minghao scoffed, finally turning to the older male.

“Well…” he hesitated. “We have each other!” Minghao laughed and shook his head.

“What is that supposed to mean? You want to be sad and single together?” he asked jokingly, cocking his brow.

“Who said anything about being sad _and_ single? If things don’t work out, we can be each other’s backup,” he suggested with a smirk. Minghao stared at him for a second, studying his expression. He couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking.

“Would you be happy with me?” Minghao questioned deciding to take it as an actual proposition.

“Why not? You’re pretty fun to be with,” he said, pinching Minghao’s cheek. Minghao pushed his hand off and pouted, his heart suddenly racing.

“Backup doesn’t sound all too bad. At least I won’t be lonely,” he agreed. Wonwoo laughed and nodded his head. Without saying anything, he held his pinky out to Minghao. Hesitating, he wrapped his fingers around the other member’s.

“It’s a deal.”

* * *

As promised, the group got a day off. Woozi had expected to spend the entire day in bed, but somehow found himself wandering the streets of Seoul with the other three 96-liners. Hoshi hit a creative wall and was having a difficult time coming up with choreography. He somehow convinced Woozi that a night in the city would help evoke some inspiration, something Woozi also desperately needed. Even though they had hundreds of songs waiting to be used, neither of them suited the feeling Woozi was going for. He wasn’t sure how Jun and Wonwoo got roped in, but he was content with the company.

Hoshi quickly ushered the three of them into a restaurant, shielding them from the cold breeze of a spring evening. They sat down at a table in the back of the place; Hoshi and Woozi on one side of the table and Jun and Wonwoo across from them. “It’s been a while since the four of us have spent time together,” Jun pointed out. He was grinning ear to ear, happy to be out with his same-age friends. When Hoshi initially invited him, he wasn’t sure how he would handle being around Wonwoo. However—without Minghao around—he felt surprisingly normal with him.

“We should do it more often,” Hoshi chimed.

“Our schedule is too crazy to go out often,” Woozi retorted, although he himself was a bit disappointed.

“Even so, at least right now is nice,” he smiled, flipping through the menu.

“So, who’s paying?” Wonwoo questioned. The four of them looked up at each other.

“Rock, paper, scissors—” Hoshi shouted all of them throwing out their hands. Woozi won the first round, the other three going again. Ultimately, Hoshi lost. “Why?” he cried, throwing his head back shaking his fist in the air.

“Don’t be too loud,” Woozi hushed, already picking out multiple of plates now that he knew his wallet wouldn’t be touched.

“You know what they say, the one who makes the suggestion is the one to lose,” Wonwoo teased.

“You were the one to suggest the game!” Hoshi whisper-shouted.

“You were the one who suggested the outing,” Jun joined in. “Not to mention Wonwoo only asked who’s paying, not that we should play rock-paper-scissors and loser pays all,” he hummed in the rapper’s defense. Hoshi opened his mouth to dispute him, but knew it was true. Sighing, he gave in.

“Only order what you’ll finish,” he stated, although he already knew just how much his members could eat in a meal. After the waiter took their order—Hoshi silently crying over his bank account—the four of them started chatting again.

“There’s a dessert place we should stop by after this,” Jun suggested.

“With how much you guys ordered, do you really think you’ll have room for more?” he asked.

“I have a separate stomach for dessert,” Wonwoo replied, Jun chiming in agreement. Hoshi turned to Woozi who shrugged in response.

“I always have room for more,” he smirked. Sighing, Hoshi nodded.

“We’re playing another game to decide who’s paying for that,” he stated, the others agreeing. When their food arrived, the four of them ended up sharing the majority of their plates. “This feels like a double date,” Hoshi laughed, glancing at Woozi to gauge his reaction. The shorter member smirked but didn’t react any further.

“It is!” Jun mused turning to look at Wonwoo. Along with everyone in Seventeen, Jun was well aware of Hoshi’s crush on their producer and decided it was worth trying to wingman. Knowing exactly why Jun agreed, Wonwoo couldn’t help but be happy at the statement. After the finished their meal, Hoshi paying as promised, the four of them walked through the streets. Hoshi and Woozi were leading the way, the dancer’s arms slung around the other’s shoulder. Pretending like he didn’t notice, Woozi didn’t push him away. The two of them were looking around the city with awe, finding inspiration in things most people could never.

Chuckling to himself, Jun linked his arm with Wonwoo. “Looks like you’re my date,” he snickered, Wonwoo laughing along.

“I guess I am,” he replied with a smile, thankful his hood covered his pink ears. When they arrived at the dessert café, they ordered two bingsus and split it amongst the designated “couples.” Jun was busy teasing Woozi about something, the smaller member ready to throw hands. Hoshi glanced at Wonwoo while the other two were distracted.

“You okay?” he mouthed soundlessly. Wonwoo gave a light nodded.

“Can’t get my hopes up if I have no hope,” he whispered back. He was only joking but was genuinely trying his hardest to not have any expectations. This was just a fun outing between friends. Beside him, Jun suddenly yelped, hugging his shin.

“Hoshi-yah, he kicked me!” he yelled, point his point at Woozi, who was smugly smirking as he ate.

“What do you want me to do?” Hoshi retorted, trying not to laugh in his injured friend’s face. “Realistically, what _can_ I do?” he added, Woozi now cackling out loud.

“Maybe it was deserved,” Wonwoo teased, nudging him softly. As Jun opened his mouth to protest, Wonwoo quickly fed him some of the bingsu. “Eat—it’ll melt,” his tone was playful, his eyes curling into crescents as he grinned with affection. He scooped up another spoon full, holding it up to the Chinese man’s mouth. Maintaining eye contact, Jun leaned forward with his mouth open. Realizing he wasn’t going to eat it himself, Wonwoo fed him again. Happily, Jun began eating, forgetting his throbbing leg.

By the time they left the café, the night had completely fallen. The four of them walked around the city aimlessly. The went to a small market, Hoshi wanting to buy random trinkets and toys until he was reminded that he paid for dinner. When they passed by a bookstore, Wonwoo stared, lingering a moment too long. “Want to go in?” Jun asked, immediately hollering for the other two before the bespectacled man could answer. As the four of them walked in, Hoshi and Woozi were quick to run to the comic section, Jun sticking beside Wonwoo.

“We didn’t have to come in,” Wonwoo said shyly, although he happily looked through the shelves for something to buy.

“It’s no problem,” he shrugged, observing the spines of the books with no intentions of actually getting anything. “We’re just having fun anyways. I don’t think anyone minds doing something for you,” he encouraged. They spent a little less than an hour wandering the small bookstore, Wonwoo finally settling on three books.

“I think Minghao would like this one,” he beamed happily. Jun’s heart suddenly panged as he snatched the bag of books from Wonwoo. Startled, the rapper turned to him with furrow brows, his head titled to the side.

“Let me hold it for you,” he said, covering up for his weird behavior. Unsuspecting, Wonwoo thanked him with a smile. “No more bringing up other people, this is a date after all,” he said jokingly, although part of him genuinely meant it. He selfishly wanted Wonwoo’s attention.

“S-sure,” Wonwoo stuttered.

“Why do you guys keep calling this a double date: it’s weird,” Woozi complained, walking ahead of them.

“It’s just for fun Jihoonie!” Hoshi chimed. Woozi glanced at him and sighed, deciding not to argue back. Thye continued wandering around a little more, until finally agreeing to head home.

“Guys, I really have to use the bathroom,” Hoshi announced, dancing around in one spot. Wonwoo looked around before pointing to several shops a block down from them.

“You can go there,”

“I’ll go with him,” Woozi said as him and Hoshi ushered over. Noticing a small park across from the shops, Jun grabbed Wonwoo’s hand and started leading him towards it.

“We’ll be at the playground!” Jun shouted after them. Woozi threw a thumps up in the air in acknowledgement. Letting go of his hand, Jun hurried over to the playground, leaping onto the structure with a childlike grin. He placed the bag down, climbing around it wildly. Wonwoo followed slowly behind, watching the other member play.

“Today was fun,” he mused, taking a seat on the play structure.

“It really was,” Jun beamed, hanging upside down by his knees. Wonwoo stared at him fondly, crouching down so that their eyes met.

“You’ve been acting weird around me lately,” Wonwoo stated with a sly smile. “I’m not so unobservant that I wouldn’t notice the way you look at me. Did I do something wrong?” he asked. Jun quickly shook his head.

“It’s not like that! I’m just… I’m just weird is all,” he murmured, losing his reasoning skills. Wonwoo laughed at his response as he stood up.

“You are weird, but I like that about you,” he teased walking towards the park trail. Jun reached up to the bar, unhooking his knees, and flipping over. Quickly, he snatched the bag of books and ran after him, grabbing his hand. Jun didn’t say anything as Wonwoo turned to look at him. Without a word, they stared at each other. Jun let go of him and looked away.

“Sorry,” he whispered, unsure of what came over him. Wonwoo chuckled, thankful that the night was cold so that he could blame his blushing cheeks on the frigid air.

“Come on. Let’s go,” Hoshi stated suddenly appearing and walking in between the two. Jun threw on his hood, yanking on the drawstrings in embarrassment.

“Time for home,” he muttered, throwing himself onto Hoshi. Woozi glanced at up at Wonwoo and smirked.

“We got dumped,” he joked pointing at the two cuddling Performance members.

“Looks like we’re dates now,” Wonwoo laughed in return as they resumed their walk back to the dorm. Eventually, Jun released Hoshi, the four of them walking all together. As they roam through the night, they chatted away, teasing one another. They screamed with laughter, chasing each other through the streets of Seoul. They felt like a normal group of guys in their twenties—no responsibilities, no deadlines, no personas.

When they finally reached the dorm, Hoshi and Jun split off to their floor. “Wait Jun!” Wonwoo called out, running up the stairs. Hoshi glanced over his shoulder but continued walking ahead. “You took my books,” the rapper chuckled. Jun blushed as he met him halfway, handing him the bag.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Do you want me to give the book to Minghao?” he asked. Wonwoo shook his head.

“The book wasn’t necessarily for him. I just thought he would be interested in it,” he replied with a small smile. Jun nodded his head wordlessly as Wonwoo said his goodnight, walking through the doors of his dorm. Jun noticed Woozi still standing outside of the doorway, his arms crossed.

“You’re obvious,” he smirked, cocking his eyebrows teasingly.

“Obvious about what?” Jun asked cluelessly. Woozi was silent for a moment as he studied Jun’s reaction, unsure if he was actually unaware of what he was implying.

“Never mind then. Maybe you’re just oblivious,” he chuckled before bowing his head and closing the door.

“Goodnight!” he shouted after him, still confuse on what Woozi meant. Well, maybe he wasn’t confused—maybe it was just denial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a chapter on Thursday! I will try not to be late this time... 
> 
> Song Rec: "Sunrise" by Cravity


	21. Chapter 21

Since they had an entire day off, Minghao expected to spend it painting or relaxing. Nonetheless, he was happy when Dokyeom wanted to spend time with the 97-liners. The main vocalist was still a bit apologetic from his previous bailing. “I want to cook something!” Mingyu stated while the three of them were brainstorming things to do.

The other two were quick to agree, genuinely willing to do anything. As they hurried out of the dorm to the store, Dokyeom suggested Minghao drive, adamantly refusing to be in the car with a driving Mingyu. At first, the taller member complained, but decided he didn’t actually care if he drove, he was just being prideful. When they arrived at the supermarket, Mingyu was firm that they were only there to buy ingredients, no snacks.

“Seokmin-ah, if you buy snacks, you are paying for it,” he warned when Dokyeom continued to put random food in the cart.

“Are you paying for the ingredients?” he questioned.

“I mean, I’m the one primarily cooking, shouldn’t someone else pay? Since I’m the one doing most of the work?” he reasoned.

“I’m just as good of a chef as you are,” he argued back.

“I’m not saying you aren’t. All I’m saying is, I’m the one who is mainly cooking this time,”

“Because this was your idea,” Dokyeom pouted.

“I’ll pay, I’ll pay,” Minghao butted-in, not wanting to make a scene in the store. “But I agree with Mingyu-yah. If you’re getting snacks, you’re buying them,” he added turning to a pouting Seokmin.

“Fine,” he huffed, putting half of the stuff he grabbed away. “What if I used the excuse it’s for all of us?” he asked.

“No,” Mingyu stated. With a sigh, he continued putting away most of the junk food. When they arrived back at the dorm, Mingyu soaked the ribs in water. Afterwards, the three of them went to Minghao’s room where they spent a little over an hour watching random videos on YouTube. They watched the latest Going Seventeen episodes and random videos of their friends’ groups. Mingyu left in intervals to check on the meat. Eventually, he called the other two into the kitchen to finally help him prep the rest. Minghao and Dokyeom primarily messed around, assisting Mingyu whenever he asked.

“Why did we pick this floor again?” Minghao questioned as he sliced vegetables. Even though the 1st dorm was practically empty, they decided to spent time on the 2nd floor.

“Your room is cozier!” Dokyeom chimed.

“You have a projector,” Mingyu added.

“I could have just move it to Dokyeom’s room,”

“It’s fine. Unless you don’t want us in your room,” Dokyeom said, concern they were burdening Minghao. Immediately, the Chinese member shook his head.

“It’s nothing like that, I was just curious is all,” he comforted, nudging him as a sign of physical affection. The three of them continued cooking in peace, occasionally making jabs at each other while listening to music.

“Watch your head,” Mingyu hummed, opening the cabinet in front of Minghao. Minghao titled his head back to avoid the wooden panel and suddenly felt himself leaning fully against Mingyu’s sturdy body. The rapper had one hand on the counter by his waist, the other searching for the container. Minghao was completely surrounded by him and his heart started to pick up. As his ears glowed red, Mingyu finally realized how close he was to Minghao. Quickly, he grabbed the spice bottle and pulled away, not saying anything. Not noticing what was happening between the two, Dokyeom obliviously stirred the noodles beside them.

The oldest of them placed the noodles into three bowls, handing them to Mingyu to scoop soup into. They sat down at the dining table with their bowls, taking in the aroma of the soup. “Seokmin-ah, why are you eating so little?” Minghao pointed out, noticing the much smaller portion of noodles.

“I’m supposed to go eat dinner with Shua-hyung later,” he replied.

“Wait,” Mingyu paused, turning to look at him. “Wasn’t it your idea to hangout together?” he asked.

“Yea, so?”

“Isn’t this to make up from last time, when you bailed on us for BooSeokSoon?”

“And?”

“And now you’re bailing on us again for hyung?” Dokyeom paused as he processed what Mingyu said.

“I’m sorry,” he cried, immediately throwing his arms around Mingyu, who was beside him. “It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you,” he assured, turning to Minghao across the table.

“No one ever accused you of that,” he hummed gently, patting his head as he slowly pried him off of Mingyu. “Let’s just eat before our food gets cold.” Dokyeom nodded his head, finally releasing Mingyu from his hug. After they finished eating, Mingyu called for the younger members. Maknae line all popped their heads out like meerkats from Jun, Seungkwan, and Dino’s room, presumably hanging out together.

“Yes?” Seungkwan shouted back.

“We have galbi-tang if you want some—” suddenly a different door swung open and Jeonghan walked out.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he chimed, grabbing himself a bowl, the youngest three following after him.

“Hyung, don’t you feel bad for leeching off of your dongsaeng’s hard work?” Mingyu frowned disapprovingly as he took his old seat.

“Not at all. What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours. We are all Seventeen after all,” he grinned cheekily. Mingyu couldn’t argue with that logic. The 97-liners finished cleaning up after themselves before they retired to Minghao’s room. The three of them piled onto the bed and chatted away. As usual, they decided on a movie to watch. After it had ended, Dokyeom checked his phone.

“Looks like I have to leave in thirty minutes,” he said, replying back to Joshua’s message.

“I still can’t believe you’re bailing on us again,” Mingyu frowned, leaning on Minghao.

“You’re too busy for us now,” Minghao said exaggeratedly.

“No, don’t be like this. You guys know I love you,” he frowned, throwing himself onto the other two. They laughed, quickly pushing him back up.

“We get it, we get it,” Minghao smiled, cupping his face. “No need to explain it to us. You go have fun.” Suddenly, Dokyeom wrapped his arms around Minghao, peppering him with kisses. 

“You’re the best. You’re the sweetest. No one is better than you,” he endlessly complimented between pecks.

“Please stop,” Minghao laughed, prying him away. The older member conceded, giving him kissy faces as he let go.

“How is your special unit going by the way?” Dokyeom asked. Suddenly, Mingyu jolted, frantically turning to Minghao.

“I haven’t worked on my rap!” he shouted. Realizing he messed up, Dokyeom tightened his lips as he looked between the two. The rapper groaned loudly and flopped over onto his side.

“I take that as not well?” he frowned, stroking his head. “You can work on it after I leave! So you don’t show up to work empty handed,” he suggested, Minghao agreeing with him.

“We can have a little creative party. I’ve been meaning to paint for a while anyways,” he encouraged. Mingyu glanced up at them with pouting lips, pushing himself back up and nodding. Dokyeom said his goodbyes as he got a phone call from the older member, waving as he hurried out the door. “Ready?” Minghao asked as he got out his art supplies. Mingyu went to his room to grab the lyrics he had been working on. When he returned, Minghao had his canvas and easel set up with a jar of water on the side.

“What’re you going to paint?” Mingyu asked curiously, as he peek at the canvas.

“How I have been feeling,” he replied cryptically.

“How _have_ you been feeling?” Minghao halted his brush, glancing up to Mingyu with a smile.

“I’m not sure,” he said, a small smile drawn against his lips although his eyes held a sullen look. Swallowing hard, Mingyu nodded and turned away to his lyrics. It was better to see what Minghao painted at the end than to try and force it out of him now. The two of them made small talk as they worked on their own things. Mingyu softly rapped his part to himself, playing the demo he got from Woozi out loud. At some point Minghao sang along quietly. Staring at him with awe and affection, Mingyu couldn’t help but be amazed by his best friend’s talent.

Suddenly, he realized he was alone with Minghao. Of course, he already knew it was just the two of them, but he was overwhelmed with the fact that it was just them again. Part of him was curious if this was a sign from the universe. The sign that he claimed he was waiting on. His heart started pounding in his ears and he couldn’t focus on the music or the lyrics in front of him. “Mingyu-yah?” He jumped at the sound of his name.

“Yes?” he replied quickly.

“Oh, nothing… you just zoned out is all,” he said, turning his attention back to his painting.

“I’m okay, just thinking,” he muttered. Several minutes passed and he stared holes into his notebook, his brain not functioning anymore. “Minghao, I have writer’s block,” he sighed, throwing his head back in defeat. The Chinese member placed a few more strokes on the canvas before putting his brush in the jar of water beside him.

“I’ll go clean up. We can take a break. Want to watch another movie?” he asked. Mingyu nodded his head happily at the suggestion. Grabbing the jar of dirty paint water and his brush, Minghao left to the kitchen. When he returned, Mingyu was in the bed, the blankets pulled back waiting for him.

“Come on!” he chimed; his arms shyly open. Minghao giggled as he got into the bed, wrapping his arms around Mingyu and resting his head on his chest. “Anything specific you want to watch?” he asked, scrolling through the list of movies.

“There’s actually a horror movie I wanted to watch but…” he trailed off as he looked up to Mingyu’s already paling face. “I think we can pass on it,” he giggled.

“It’s okay! I’m sure I can manage,” he reassured, although Minghao could feel him tensing.

“If you say so,” he taunted, getting up to find the movie he was talking about. As he eased back into Mingyu’s arms, the taller male hugged him close. Part of him just wanted to hold Minghao close, but it was mainly out of fear of what was to come. Just as Minghao had predicted, he could feel every time Mingyu flinched, tensed, or inhaled. At some point, he felt Mingyu removed his hand from his waist to cover up his own face. Minghao chuckled as he moved his head to look at him. “Scared?” he teased.

“Not at all,” he huffed, squeezing him. Suddenly, a sound cue went off and Mingyu yelped, burying his face into the other man’s hair.

“I’ll protect you; I’ll protect you,” he hummed softly. He reached up and stroked Mingyu’s head, the taller member loosening his grip. He kept his nose buried in Minghao’s hair, his eyes barely meeting the screen. Another rather gruesome scene appeared, Mingyu crying out in fear again as he covered his ears to block out the screaming. Quickly, Minghao raised his hand and blocked the other member’s vision. “Close your eyes, I’ll tell you when it’s over,” he cooed. The scene concluded and, as he promised, Minghao gently pat Mingyu’s chest. “You can uncover your eyes now,” he mused, turning to him. “Are you okay?” Mingyu stared at him with puppy eyes before weakly nodding.

“I’m okay,” he mumbled, pulling him close. Minghao giggled as he turned his attention back to the movie. Another twenty minutes passed and Minghao finally got up, reaching over to the laptop, and exiting out of the movie back to the title selection. “What’s wrong?” Mingyu asked, sitting up.

“It’s not worth torturing you for a full hour and forty minutes. I could always finish it another time. I’d rather we get to spend some quality time together, than have you quaking in fear behind me,” he smiled.

“But you wanted to watch it,” Mingyu pouted, feeling guilty for his cowardice.

“Oh please, the movie wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be,” he replied, petting Mingyu’s cheek. “Why don’t we watch something else. Something happier so you don’t have nightmares when you go to sleep,” he suggested, changing the genre selected. “Seungkwanie recommended me a movie, he said it was really sweet,” he hummed as he started typing in the name. Suddenly, Mingyu hugged him, pulling him back against him.

“You’re too good for me,” Mingyu whispered softly, cuddling his face into his shoulder. Minghao smiled as he pushed himself away.

“Stop being sappy,” he teased, clicking on the movie and moving back beside him. The two of them switched places, this time Mingyu laying on Minghao’s chest. The movie was a cliché love triangle about a girl who was in love with her misunderstood, tsundere, bad boy, childhood best friend who soon finds herself falling in love with the Mr. Perfect at her college who is actively trying to woo her. Mingyu inhaled sharply at how close to his situation it hit but tried his best to remain calm.

As the movie went on, Mingyu self-consciously glanced at Minghao ever several minutes. Minghao noticed it after the fourth time, but didn’t say anything until almost an hour in. “Are you okay?” he asked, shifting away from Mingyu so they could look at each other.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, as he sat up. Confused, Minghao tilted his head to the side.

“Why are you apologizing?” he frowned, pausing the movie so they could talk. The screen was frozen as the girl confessed to Mr. Perfect, the childhood friend becoming too distant for her to handle.

“I like you,” he stated bluntly, making eye contact with him. Gently, he took Minghao’s hands in his. “I’ve fallen in love with you,” he reworded when Minghao didn’t response. The smaller member’s heart raced as he blinked in confusion.

“You’re in love with… me?” he echoed, unable to process the words. Mingyu nodded earnestly. “I…” he paused, glancing away. As he looked to the side, he saw the book Wonwoo had recently lent him. “Can you be honest with me?” he asked, still not looking up to him.

“Anything!”

“When did you fall for me?” he questioned, gathering the courage to meet his stare. Mingyu blushed at the question but didn’t dare to avert his eyes.

“I realized it the night we got drunk. I was probably in love with you before then, but I only realized it that night,” he admitted.

“So after we—”

“No,” he stated firmly. “Before we did all of that,” he assured. Minghao nodded, accepting his answer.

“Do you have feelings for Wonwoo?” Mingyu immediately shrunk at the question, instinctively looking away. He heard Minghao’s small chuckle of knowing amusement.

“I do,” he answered. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I do have feelings for hyung,” he said as he finally turned to him again.

“Why are you confessing to me then—?”

“What? Why does that matter?” he shouted in confusion. “Why can’t I confess to you? Can’t I like both of you? Is it bad that I made a choice?” he protested. Quickly, Minghao shook his head.

“Mingyu-yah, I don’t think you actually like me,” he smiled. “You have feelings for Wonwoo-hyung. That’s probably why you got upset when Jun-hyung kissed him—” Mingyu shook a sharp breath at that statement. “I think your feelings for me are misguided. I think you think you’re in love with me because you want to move on. I’m just a rebound,”

“That’s not true,” he insisted, but Minghao kept shaking his head. “Can I have one question?” he asked, after he realized he couldn’t convince Minghao.

“What is it?”

“Are you in love with me?” Minghao froze, before taking a deep breath.

“Maybe I am,” he whispered softly.

“That’s not an honest answer,” he said firmly. Taking a moment to stare into Migyu’s eyes, he nodded.

“I am, but that’s beside the point,” he replied. “Jun-hyung and Wonwoo-hyung only kissed to test something out. There wasn’t romantic interest behind the kiss. You still have a chance with him; more than you give yourself credit for.” Accepting the rejection, Mingyu took a deep breath as he let go of Minghao’s hands, collapsing onto him in a hug. Minghao returned the embrace burying his face into the other male’s shoulder. He wanted to love Mingyu. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Please don’t be,” he sighed. “Just stay with me like this.” Minghao didn’t say anything as they continued holding each other. Eventually, they heard the others return home from their night out. “It’s getting late, I should go to bed. Thank you for today,” he smiled weakly.

“Wait,” Minghao grabbed his arms as he got off the bed. The two stood still, Mingyu waiting patiently. “Thank you for telling me,” he said, letting go. Leaning down, Mingyu kissed his forehead and left. Letting out a frustrated roar, Minghao flung himself onto his bed. He couldn’t do it; he couldn’t allow himself to be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the rest of the story planned out! It should be 5-6 chapters left! Thank you guys so much for reading~
> 
> Song Rec: "목소리 (Voice)" / "Star" by Loona (they're the same song, one is just the Korean version and the other is the English)


	22. Chapter 22

Not to Minghao’s surprise, Mingyu asked for some space. He needed time away from him, to process and accept the rejection. Afraid of how he came across, Mingyu kept insisting that he had no hard feelings throughout the conversation, but Minghao was quick to assure him he understood and didn’t blame him. A few days passed and Mingyu seemed normal to everyone, except for his intense focus on work—but they just took it as pre-comeback jitters.

Staying late with Woozi, Mingyu finalized his lyrics and recorded his part for the special unit demo. Woozi was vaguely aware about the rejection; the younger member adamantly saying they could talk about it later. After they finished recording, Woozi told Mingyu he could probably go home now with their manager. He shook his head. “I’d rather stay a little longer. I can wait for you and Hoshi-hyung,” he said.

“Alright then,” Woozi agreed, still mildly concern. “The recording studio should be empty. You can go relax there while I work,” he suggested.

“Can’t I stay in your studio?” Mingyu frowned not wanting to be alone.

“No, you’ll be a distraction.” Knowing it was the truth, Mingyu left to the recording studio. When he got there, the door was already unlocked, and he could see light shine through the frosted glass. He opened the door slowly, careful not to disturb whoever was already inside. When he poked his head through the small crack, he was faced to face with Wonwoo.

“I’m sorry,” he squeaked when the older member turned to him. He tried to back out and close the door, but Wonwoo was quick to call out after him.

“You can stay!” The two of them fell silent as Mingyu stood halfway in the door. “You’re not bothering me or anything; I’m waiting for Soonyoung,” he explained. Hesitantly, Mingyu entered, closing the door behind him. It had been a while since the two of them were alone and Mingyu certainly hadn’t confronted his feelings for the older member since his rejection from Minghao. Due to his overthinking, he tripped over his own foot. Stumbling forward, he practically threw himself onto the couch. Instinctively, Wonwoo reached out to help him, Mingyu catching himself first.

“I’m okay,” he mumbled softly, carefully seating himself on the couch several feet between the two of them. Wonwoo chuckled, staring at him with endearment.

“So what are you doing here so late?” he asked, refusing to allow the room to fall to silence. After Minghao told him that Mingyu knew about the Jun kiss, he was able to put two and two together as to why the other rapper had been acting weird around him.

“I just finished my rap. Jihoonie-hyung is mixing it and doing any last finishing touches. For now, I’m waiting for him to go home,” he replied.

“I’m glad you finished your part. I heard that Jihoon gave you an extension to work on it,” he noted. Mingyu gulped and nodded his head; he only got the extension because he was broken over the rejection. As hard as Wonwoo tried, their conversations kept meeting an early grave. With a sigh, he let the quiet settle in. “Hey, Mingyu-yah?” he called after a while.

“Yes?” He was staring down at his hands.

“Are we okay? Like, is there something wrong between us?” he questioned honestly. Mingyu didn’t reply and Wonwoo took a deep breath as he rolled his head to look at him. “Lately it seems like you’ve been avoiding me. I don’t mind if you want to spend time with the other members over me, I can understand that. I just feel like you don’t want to be left alone with me anymore,” he explained. Still not saying anything, Mingyu shifted in his seat so that they were facing each other. “If I did something wrong to upset you, I’m really, really sorry. I would never intentionally hurt you if I could help it,” he insisted, placing his hand out to take. For a second, Mingyu stared at the outstretched hand before holding it.

“Hyung, I’m in love with you,” he confessed.

“What?” Wonwoo breathed in shocked, moving closer to Mingyu.

“I’m in love with you. I have been in love with you since before we debuted. I have spent years liking you on and off. I know I wasn’t the most subtle, so I assumed you already knew. Honestly, I thought you liked me too. Yet, for some reason, things never happened—we remained exactly the same as we have always been. Maybe you don’t feel the same for me too—” Wonwoo shook his head.

“It’s not like that—”

“Then what is it like? Tell me clearly how you feel and what you expect after saying the truth,” Mingyu ordered, frustrated with the way things had been going.

“I…” Wonwoo hesitated, looking away as he tried to think of a proper was to process his emotions. Of course he loved Mingyu, yet things were different from how they were just a few weeks ago.

“I do love you Mingyu-yah. I have probably loved you for just as long as you loved me. Honestly, I did assume you liked me, but I was never too sure, that’s why I didn’t ever overtly pursued you or a relationship with you,” he said. “I just—I want to know one thing,” he stated.

“What is it?”

“Am I the only person you like?” Mingyu gave a long sigh as he turned away, pulling their hands apart. “I take that as a no,”

“I’m sorry, hyung—”

“Don’t be,” Wonwoo cut in, cupping Mingyu’s cheek and turning his face back to him. “I don’t blame you for falling in love with someone else; especially considering how long I made you wait for me. Is it wrong of me to ask who?” he questioned. Hesitantly, Mingyu sighed again, placing a hand over Wonwoo’s.

“It’s Minghao,” he answered, his voice apologetic and guilt-ridden. To his surprise, Wonwoo chuckled and nodded his head.

“For how long?” he asked.

“Relatively recently; a few months maybe,” he said.

“Mingyu-yah, I don’t think we should be together—” The younger member jolted up, ready to say anything in defense, but was quickly silenced by Wonwoo placing his thumb over his lips. “I think the time for us to be together has long past. I’m worried you have been holding onto these feelings out of obligation. That you are worried because you spent so much time and effort in wanting to be with me you feel like you have to keep on loving me, otherwise you just waste so many years of your youth,” he said.

“What if I said that’s not true? That I really do love you?” he persisted.

“Even if you did, I think I’ve hurt you enough, Mingyu. I would much rather you find happiness with someone else, someone new,” he continued. Mingyu couldn’t speak at the rejection. Both his crushes admitted to liking him back, yet both of them insisted that he should not only be with someone else but be with the other person. Realizing that he was close to tears, Wonwoo pulled him in to a hug. “I’m sorry, Mingyu-yah,” he whispered.

“Please don’t be,” he mumbled, burying his face into his neck. Mingyu stayed in his arms for a moment longer before pulling away and getting up. “I’m going to wait somewhere else,” he said, wiping his eyes.

“I understand. Please take care of yourself,” Wonwoo said as Mingyu left the recording studio back to Woozi’s.

“Hyung,” he called softly as he walked in. Woozi turned around to him with an annoyed face that immediately melted into concern. “I got rejected… again,” he murmured.

“Let’s go home, we can talk there,” he suggested, saving,and shutting down his stuff. “You’ll get through this,” he assured, rubbing his back as they walked out. Mingyu meekly nodded in response. He knew he would. He would survive this, and things would go back to normal. But in this moment, he couldn’t handle the heartache.

* * *

It wasn’t clear if Jun had heard it from someone else—it wouldn’t have surprised him, given by how much the group shared with each other—or if the older member was just observant enough to notice he was acting different. Either way, Jun stood at the entrance of his room with an obviously concern face. “Want some company?” he asked. Woozi was back at the company, working as always. Mingyu rolled to the side of his bed, motioning for Jun to lay next to him. The older member complied, cuddling up beside him. “Do you want to go out? There’s a really great Chinese restaurant I just found,” he suggested.

“No, I just want to stay in bed,” he muttered. With a gentle smile, Jun started petting his hair and face. “What are you doing hyung?” he asked, pulling his head away from his touch.

“You look sad lately,” he said, giving away his original intention. “During the special unit meeting you seemed out of focus. Luckily, Woozi didn’t seem to mind, but I heard from the others our group is falling behind a bit compared to them,” he replied. Mingyu shrunk at that statement. Knowingly, Jun finally retracted his hands as he folded his arms under his head. “Are you okay?” Mingyu didn’t reply. The words burned in his ears. Scooting closer to Jun, he buried his face against his shoulder.

“Mingyu-yah,” he called, softly stroking his head again. “It’s okay to be upset about stuff. Its fine to have a hard time. But you’re only making it worse if you bottle it up. It’s starting to affect work,” he cooed. “I said I wouldn’t pry, but I’m really starting to worry. I know you said that you didn’t want to talk about it until you had everything figured out, but…” Jun stopped as he sat up, Mingyu moving closer to continue hiding his face. The two wrestled for a bit as Jun tried to roll him over to see his face, the taller male resisting him. Finally, Jun grabbed his shoulder, forcing him onto his back. He held his chin with a strong enough grip to prevent him from turning away, but still gentle enough not to hurt him. When Jun finally looked Mingyu in the eye, tears streaming down his face. “Please talk to me,” he begged. Jun hated seeing him like this: distraught and full of grief. He wanted to cheer him up, see him smile, hear him laugh. Mingyu sat up, aggressively wiping away his tears.

“I’m just frustrated,” he shouted, although his anger wasn’t targeted towards him. “I just don’t understand! I like Minghao, people tell me he likes me back, I confess, he confesses back but tells me that we shouldn’t be together. I like Wonwoo, I confess to Wonwoo, he tells me he likes me back but that we shouldn’t be together either!” he yelled. Mingyu breathed heavily with rage before he took a long, deep breath. Jun was shocked but not surprise at the news that Mingyu had feelings for both Minghao and Wonwoo. He also wasn’t surprise by the fact that the other two had feelings for Mingyu as well. “I just don’t understand,” he whispered. “Am I unlovable—?”

“Don’t say that,” Jun interjected, reaching for his hands. “You’re amazing, Mingyu-yah. You’re talented, you’re handsome, you’re incredibly kind-hearted. You are _not_ unlovable. You are the _furthest_ _thing_ from unlovable,” Jun reached up and wiped away the tear staining the young man’s face. “What happened to all that confidence you used to have, huh?” Mingyu rubbed his eyes, breathing slowly before giving Jun a shy grin. “There we go,” he smiled back.

“I just… I feel so helpless. I feel stupid,” he grumbled, letting out a soft sigh.

“It happens. We all feel like that sometimes,” he comforted.

“I just wished somebody loved me; that somebody wanted me.” Jun held in his urge to confess; now was not the time. If anything, it was the worst time possible.

“You’ll find someone,” he said confidently. Whether that was him or someone else didn’t matter. He just wanted a happy Mingyu. The two of them changed topics, talking about idle things to get Mingyu’s mind off of his heartbreak. However, after a while, Mingyu was hit with the overwhelming feeling again, tears uncontrollably falling from his eyes. Jun cradled him in his arms, softly swaying as he gave him words of affirmation.

“I don’t want to be alone,” he sniffled, trying to compose himself again. He looked up to Jun, who held his face in his hands, wiping away his tears with his thumbs.

“I won’t leave you,” he comforted. Gazing into his eyes, Mingyu didn’t say anything. He just wanted to enjoy Jun’s company, taking solace in his presences. Letting the silence take over, Jun continued to softly stroke Mingyu’s face. The younger member melted against his touch, closing his eyes. Jun wanted to protect him. He wanted to make him happy.

He wanted him.

Slowly, Jun leaned forward, placing his lips against Mingyu. The younger member inhaled sharply and held still; his eyes opened wide. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Jun gasped as he pulled away. “I didn’t mean to. I mean I did, but I already knew I shouldn’t have—” he paused, taking a deep breath. It was already too late anyways. “If the other two don’t want you, then I do! I’m in love with you Mingyu-yah,” he confessed, his face a bright red. Mingyu sat speechless. Slowly, a blush appeared on his cheeks as he back away from Jun.

“I… I’m sorry hyung,” he stuttered, placing his fingers to his lips. “I just… I need some time to process this,” he whispered. Jun nodded, quickly climbing down the bed.

“I’m really sorry Mingyu. I didn’t want to take advantage of you in this state, especially since you were being so vulnerable with me,” he apologized, getting on his knees to bow deeply. Mingyu hurried off his bed and pulled him back up.

“It’s alright hyung. I know you didn’t have any ill intentions. I just need time,” he stated, still in a state of shock. Jun nodded meekly before leaving the room with one last apology. Mingyu went back to his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his brain a scrambled mess. He never considered having feelings for Jun. In all honesty, he already knew he didn’t love him. He was only entertaining the idea because he wanted to be loved so badly. But he knew that would only be hurting the older member if he did that.

He just wanted to be loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for hurting Mingyu over and over ;-; I will be updating only on Monday for a while since the term is almost over and I need to focus on passing my classes!! 
> 
> Song rec: "클리커 (Clicker)" by J.DON (He is the leader of N.Flying!)


	23. Chapter 23

“We need to talk.” It was rare for Minghao to start a conversation with a hostile tone. Wonwoo silently agreed, following behind Minghao who angrily stormed to his bedroom.

“What’s the matter—?”

“Why did you reject Mingyu?” he asked bluntly. Wonwoo was taken aback, unaware that Minghao knew.

“Does it really matter why?” he replied looking away.

“Yes, because _I_ rejected him because I wanted him to be with you,” Minghao stated. With wide eyes, Wonwoo turned back to him. “I told him he should be with you and then _you rejected him_. You love him, why would you reject him?” he huffed.

“For the same reason you did, because I thought he should be with you,” he answered with a shrug. Minghao’s anger partially subsided; it was hypocritical if he kept railing Wonwoo. With a sigh, Minghao turned his back towards him, ruffling his hair as he thought. “Why are you so bent on this? Why does it matter so much that I rejected him too?” the rapper asked, taking steps closer to him.

“Because…” he said weakly. He just wanted to two of them to be happy together. He wanted to be the selfless one.

“Minghao-ah,”

“What?” he spat, still angry.

“What if it was fate?” Confused, Minghao looked at him. “What if it was fate for us to reject Mingyu. We both did it not knowing the other did as well,” he explained.

“So what? What does that have to do with fate?” he frowned, not following along.

“Well,” Wonwoo hesitated, as he scratched the back of his head. “Maybe we should be together instead,” he suggested quietly. Minghao blinked, no thoughts running through his mind. Suddenly, a chill shot up his spine before dispersing throughout his entire body.

“What are you saying?” Minghao asked, barely forcing out the words.

“I’m saying that maybe we don’t need to be each other’s backup. Maybe we don’t have to wait until we both get rejected or reject the others. Maybe we could just get together now,” he said.

“We shouldn’t,” Minghao muttered, shaking his head as he took a step back.

“Why not?” Wonwoo stated.

“It’s wrong,”

“How is it wrong? Admit it: you fell for me too,” he persisted, Minghao not denying the fact. “What’s so wrong about us being together then?”

“Hyung, we just can’t!” he shouted.

“Do you like me?” he asked. Minghao took a deep breath, looking around the room for an escape to this conversation. “Do you like me?” he repeated.

“Yes!” his voice was a borderline scream, a wave of emotions rushing over him. “Yes, I like you, but that doesn’t mean we can be together!” He was growing increasingly frustrated. It was uncharacteristic of him to lose control of his emotion. Suddenly, he grabbed Wonwoo and shook him. “Do you not have a conscious? Do you not feel any guilt at all?” he cried out. They both rejected Mingyu and told him he should be with the other person. If the two of them were to suddenly get together after rejecting him, it would probably crush him completely. Wonwoo didn’t reply, as he placed one hand over Minghao’s, the guilt finally hitting him too. The younger member quickly pulled away from his touch. “We _can’t_ be together,” he stated firmly. “Be with Mingyu or be alone,” he said, leaving Wonwoo in his own room. As he walked out into the hallway, Jun spotted him with a smile.

“Minghao-yah, do you want to go out—” Jun stopped as the other Chinese member walked passed him.

“Not now ge,” he replied in Mandarin, his brain too scattered to form a Korean sentence.

“Alright then, next time!” he shouted after him as Minghao left the dorm. When he turned back to the corridor, he saw Wonwoo gingerly slip out of Minghao’s room.

“Oh…” the rapper whispered under his breath.

“Everything okay?” Jun asked, walking up to him. Wonwoo waved his hand in the air, trying to brush it off.

“Please don’t worry about it. It’s just between me and him,” he sighed.

“You sure? You guys seemed pretty close lately,” he frowned, glancing back at the front door. Wonwoo shook his head.

“It’s really nothing, don’t worry about it,” he mumbled.

“Well, same goes for you. I’m sure he won’t stay mad for long,” he smiled. Wonwoo smirked and nodded.

“I can only hope,” he said about to walk back to his dorm.

“Do you want to get dinner with me?” Jun asked before he could get far. “There’s a new restaurant I have been wanting to try,” he added.

“I’ll pass this time. I think I should be alone right now,” he replied, patting Jun’s shoulder as he left the dorm. Concern, but not willing to pry, Jun returned to his room. The following day was a train wreck. As the four of them sat down with Woozi, the tension was prevalent in the air. After five minutes, in the middle of Woozi’s sentence, Mingyu excused himself, leaving the studio in a hurry. When the door closed, Woozi sighed and scratched the back of his head. Wonwoo glanced over at Minghao who was on the other side of Jun, refusing to even acknowledge him. The oldest looked between the two in confusion. He wanted to say anything but feared the repercussions of saying something wrong.

Not wanting to dwelling on it, Woozi continued on with what he was saying. However, after ten minutes, he dismissed them anyways. Immediately, Minghao darted out of the room, Wonwoo following quietly behind. Only Jun remained in the studio with the producer. “I’m sorry Woozi-yah, I’ll talk to them,” he apologized. Quickly, the smaller member shook his head.

“Please don’t, I’m not sure if talking to them can fix this,” he replied, thinking he knew the entirety of the situation. Mingyu had yet to tell him that Jun had kissed him and confessed. With a heavy sigh, Jun left the studio and returned to the practice room where the rest of Seventeen waited. As he walked in, his eyes scan the room to the other three, each standing a distance away, stealing glances at one another. He knew why Mingyu was awkward around the other two, but he wasn’t sure why they were weird with each other.

“Boo,” Jun teased, grabbing Minghao’s shoulder. The younger member jumped and whirled around. “That’s rare; normally it doesn’t work,” he mused. Minghao signed in response, turning back to where he was looking. Without saying anything, Jun hugged him from behind, resting his nose in his hair. Minghao melted into his embrace, placing his hands over his arms. After a while, Jun noticed Minghao and Wonwoo stole more glances from each other, than they did with Mingyu. “Interesting,” he mumbled out loud.

“What is?” he asked.

“Nothing,” he hummed back, rubbed his cheek against the back of his head. Several days passed and nothing had changed. Woozi switched gears, primarily working on the unit songs over the special units. The tension in the Hip-Hop unit was bearable and they were actually able to be productive. Jun was still trying his best to mend their special unit, but knew he was a cause of one of the problems.

“Mingyu-yah,” he called, peaking his head in one night. Startled at the sudden visit to his bedroom, Mingyu sat up nicely.

“Yes?”

“I know you said you wanted time, but I just wanted to talk with you for a bit. Is that okay?” he asked, still just a floating head in the doorway. Mingyu nodded, motioning him inside. He hurried in and closed the door behind him. “I’ll just be upfront about it to make things quicker for you: I want you to forget about my confession. Don’t even take it into consideration. I do like you and I would love nothing more than to be with you, but I think its best that we just stay as friends. For the sakes of the group and the rest of the members, let’s just be us. I’m so sorry for putting you in this situation. You already had so much on your mind and I just made it worse because of my lack of forethought,” he explained, bowing a full ninety-degrees.

“Hyung—”

“No, listen to me,” he said, standing up again. “If months or even years from now, you change your mind, I will be happy to have you. But right now, you don’t need this.” Taking a deep breath, Mingyu nodded in agreement. “I don’t expect things to go back to normal between us right away, but I hope that you won’t feel as awkward around me,” he added.

“Thank you for coming to talk to me, I really appreciate it. Like, honestly,” he said with a small child-like pout. Part of him felt bad knowing Jun felt like he had to do this. The Chinese member gave him a wide grin before quickly excusing himself from the room. When he reached the living room, Wonwoo was reading one of the books he bought during the 96-liner’s night out.

“Have you lent it to Minghao yet?” he asked taking a seat on the edge of the bed, already knowing the answer. Lowering the book onto his chest, Wonwoo met his eyes with a tight-lipped expression.

“Nope,” he replied shortly.

“Haven’t finished it yet?”

“More complicated than that,” he smirked in annoyance.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not at all,” he breath, averting his eyes to the ceiling. Jun chuckled, feigning ignorance. Mindlessly, he started patting Wonwoo’s stomach. “Did you need anything else?” he asked, finally turning back to him.

“Just enjoying your company,” he hummed, smiling brightly. Wonwoo smiled in return, picking up his book and reading again. Jun stared at his face, carefully analyzing his express—although currently there was none. “I didn’t expect Minghao to stay mad at you for so long. Was the argument that bad?” Immediately, Wonwoo’s face morphed into a look of mortified fear and guilt.

“I don’t really blame him,” he muttered, trying to hide his face with his book. Jun scooted up along the bed, maintaining a view of him.

“Did you say something mean to him?” he questioned.

“No, just something stupid,” he grumbled, rolling onto his side. His ears were red from embarrassment. Take a deep breath, Jun got up and stroked Wonwoo’s head.

“I’m sorry. I’ll assume you still don’t want to talk about it. Goodnight, Wonwoo-yah,” he said.

“Night, Junnie,” he mumbled. Jun petted him a few more times before leaving. Returning to the 2nd dorm, Jun poked his head into Minghao’s room. The younger member was working on the painting he started with Mingyu during their day off.

“Yes?” he mused, lowering his paintbrush.

“Don’t mind me, keep going,” he replied, standing behind him to see the canvas. A comfortable silence settled between the two. The backdrop of the canvas was a deep blue, in the upper left corner, a somewhat abstract anatomical heart was torn in half with a slew of colors pouring out onto the rest of the canvas. “So what does it mean?” he asked, as Minghao added more strokes of color.

“Overflowing love can be powerful and overwhelming,” he said shortly, hyper focused on his painting.

“So overwhelming that it breaks your heart?” he questioned.

“No, it’s not meant to be broken. You know how sometimes your heart is so full that it feels like it’s going to burst? It’s more like that,” he explained.

“Is it bad to have such strong emotions?” Minghao shrugged in response.

“It’s not always bad. Emotions are good to have, but sometimes it’s just too much. Sometimes you just don’t know what to do with those emotions,” he replied, placing his brush in the jar of water. “Anymore more questions, you curious cat?” he asked turning around to look at him. Jun giggled at the nickname as he softly placed a hand on Minghao’s cheek.

“Do your emotions control your behavior?” The younger member frowned at the question, knowing how worried Jun was for him.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered nuzzling against his palm. “I’m just having a hard time figuring out what I want right now,” he added.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Quickly, Minghao shook his head.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be okay,” he smiled.

“Is it because of Wonwoo?” Minghao immediately blushed as he lowered his head. “Did he say something mean to you—?”

“Not at all! If anything I was the one who was mean,” he muttered. Jun studied his face for a moment before a realization dawned on him.

“Do you like him again?” he asked. Keeping his gaze low, Minghao didn’t reply, softly biting at his lips. With a knowing hum, Jun leaned down and placed a light kiss on his forehead. “It’s getting late. You should head to bed,” he suggested, the other member humming in agreement. Minghao was thankful that he dropped the conversation. When Jun retired back to his bed for the night, he devised a plan. Mingyu liked both Wonwoo and Minghao, who supposedly liked him back. However, Wonwoo and Minghao seemed more awkward with each other than anyone else. Given by the way they were acting, the two of them probably liked each other as well, Jun concluded in his mind.

He found it amusing that the three people he fell for all fell for one another. Surprisingly, he wasn’t too heartbroken over it. He just wanted to be able to love them with nothing in return. As long as the three of them were happy he was happy. However, in this moment, none of them were happy and he was determined to fix everything.

The next day, Seventeen held an impromptu meeting, Woozi suddenly demanding they talk. As they all settled down in the conference room, sitting by units, Woozi spoke. “I’m changing the special units,” he claimed, everyone breaking out into questions and objections. S.coups placed his hand out and everyone immediately settled. “Things aren’t going as smoothly as I would like, and I think it’s best to hurry up and move on than to continue focusing on something that isn’t work. This time around, I will be the one making the groups based on what I think will get approved by the company the fastest,” he explained.

“What about our current songs?” Minghao asked, suddenly raising his hand.

“We’ll save them for later. However, since we’re running a little short on time, we will probably use prewritten songs that I’ve made and tweak those,” he replied.

“So we won’t be using my song?” he frowned. Taking a deep breath, Woozi nodded.

“We could always release it as a solo single another time, but right now, it won’t be in the album,” he said, sympathetic towards Minghao’s disappointment. Compliantly, the dancer nodded, slumping back into his seat. As the others continued to discuss the new plans for the album, Minghao completely checked out, staring blankly at the table. From across the room, Mingyu glanced at Minghao. He knew how excited he was to write for another one of the group’s albums; he himself was looking forward to it too. Wonwoo as well looked his way, feeling guilty knowing that he was part of the reason why the units had to be change. Underneath the table, Jun placed a hand on Minghao’s knee, the younger member holding his hand for comfort. Jun would fix this: he _needed_ to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Rec: "Paranoia" by Kang Daniel


	24. Chapter 24

Swinging the door open, Jun barged into Woozi’s studio. The said member was sitting at his computer, S.coups beside him, and Jeonghan laying on the couch on his phone. “Woozi-yah, hear me out please,” he begged getting on his knees in front of Woozi’s chair. The two leaders looked at each, setting aside what they were working on.

“What is it?” he asked, confused on why his same-year friend was suddenly kneeling before him.

“Please don’t change the special unit, please!” Woozi sighed, turning away as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Jun-ah, it’s really not up to me. If it’s not working, then it’s not working. We don’t have time to keep stalling like this,” he replied, grabbing Jun’s arm, and pulling him back up.

“Wouldn’t it take up more time to restart?” he argued.

“Technically, but in the long run, things will run smoother,” Woozi replied. Taking a deep breath, Jun stood his racking his brain.

“Give me the weekend,” he stated, an idea slowly forming in his mind. “Give me a chance to fix this. Please, Jihoonie. Minghao worked so hard on that song. You worked so hard on them too! How many times did you fall asleep in this very studio working on them? I can fix this, I know I can,” he continued, grasping both of the producer’s hand. Before Woozi could object again, S.coups placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Let him do it,” he stated, giving Jun a small nod. “We can’t really start with the new units until Monday anyways; might as well give him a chance until then,” he reasoned. Jun began glowing with hope, strengthening his grip on Woozi’s hand.

“Fine,” he muttered in defeat.

“I’ll fix it, don’t even worry about it!” he exclaimed happily, running out of the room.

“Have some faith, Jihoon-ah,” Jeonghan said, finally chiming into the conversation. “He seems determine.” Woozi sighed again but didn’t say anything as he turned his attention back to the list of songs he had waiting to be used.

After the group meeting, Minghao vented to Jun constantly. At some point, he cried with frustration at the situation, both deeply disappointed about his song and conflicted about his other situation that he refused to open up about. Jun just held him in his arms, trying his best to comfort him. He was becoming desperate to fix things, he couldn’t bare to see Minghao so distraught.

As Saturday evening rolled around, several of the members went to the company to work on stuff. Jun had made sure that Minghao, Mingyu, and Wonwoo were left behind at the dorms. Even though he convinced Woozi he would fix things over the weekend, he barely devised a plan. Maybe the word “plan” was an exaggeration. He knew what he wanted to say, but he didn’t how he would say it. Or how he would even get the three of them together. “Are you okay?” Wonwoo asked when he stepped out of the dorm, Jun pacing up and down the stairwell.

“Yup, just working it out!” he shouted nervously.

“Working what out?” Wonwoo frowned, walking up and down with him.

“Did I say working it out? I meant working out. Like exercising,” he explained in a quick and anxious tone. Confuse and not buying it at all, Wonwoo continued mimicking him. After several minutes, Jun roared, plopping down onto the steps.

“Are you okay?” the rapper repeated, sitting next to him.

“I’ll be fine,” he replied, taking a deep breath. “You want to do me a small favor?” he asked turning to him, a light bulb flicking on in his brain.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Go downstairs to the lobby and wait for me there. I’ll be down in a few minutes. We are going to go for a walk,” he said, getting back to his feet. Not understanding why—but also not willing to object—Wonwoo left to the ground floor. Running back up to the 2nd dorm, Jun barged into Minghao’s room. The younger member jumped, placing aside his book.

“What?” he shouted, placing a hand over his racing heart.

“Let’s go for a walk; get changed,” he smiled. Minghao obeyed, following Jun out of the dorm. “Wait here,” he said as he walked into the 1st floor dorm. Knocking on the bedroom dorm, Jun waited patiently. As it opened, Jun grinned at Mingyu. “Are you doing anything?” he questioned.

“No, not really,” he replied, unsure of why Jun was at his door. Things had gotten better between the two but Mingyu was still self-conscious when interacting with him.

“Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested. Hesitantly, Mingyu agreed. When the two of them left the dorm, Minghao blinked in surprise, quickly averting his eyes, not saying anything. Mingyu as well looked away, scratching the back of his head. “Come on,” Jun called leading them to the ground floor where Wonwoo waited. The three awkwardly glanced at each other as they silently followed Jun into the darkening evening.

“Hyung, where are we going?” Minghao asked after they followed Jun for ten minutes.

“We are going to talk, and we are going to fix this!” he declared glancing over his shoulder at them. The four of them arrived at the same park where Wonwoo and Hoshi had their conversation and Jun forced the three of them onto the bench as he stood in front of them. “Now, let’s talk. Why don’t we start with why you guys have been avoiding each other,” he suggested, gesturing to Minghao, who was sitting in the center, first.

The Chinese member shifted his eyes between the two, before laying them in front on Jun. He didn’t speak. Sighing, Jun turned to Wonwoo. He also didn’t speak. “Well, you two _must_ know why Mingyu is upset with you guys,” Jun stated. Taking a deep breath, Minghao nodded and turned to Mingyu who looked away. “Going to explain why you did what you did?” he asked.

“Jun-ah,” Wonwoo called. “I don’t think this is going to work.” Jun folded his arms and glared.

“That’s because you guys aren’t talking,” he hissed. Several minutes passed and still neither of them said a peep. With a sharp inhale, Jun turned around and ruffled his hair. It wasn’t working; they didn’t want to talk. He knew he could fix things if the three of them just explained themselves. If only they knew the truth. Jun whirled around to them: _last resort_. “I hate to do this, but you guys _need_ this,” he stated. “Do you both still like Mingyu?” he asked. The two looked at each other hesitantly before nodding. “Okay, this makes things easier then. The three of you idiots all like each other!” he snapped, reaching the end of his patience with the three of them. “Maybe you don’t have to pick! Stop hurting each other by refusing to be with one another!” he yelled. “Now then, _please just talk to each other_ ,” he begged. Not even a minute later, Jun started walking away.

“Where are you going?” Mingyu asked, hurrying off of the bench.

“Back to the dorms. You guys need to talk, not me,” he said waving goodbye as he left. Turning back around to the other two, Mingyu sat down on the bench again.

“Let’s please talk,” he said. He felt an immediate pang of guilt. Jun confessed to him not to long ago and even though the older member told him to forget about it, here he was still trying to help him with his own love life. He rejected him, yet Jun was still giving him an opportunity at love. “Is it true that you two like each other?” he asked, trying his hardest to maintain eye contact. He needed to act bold and confident, but in reality, his insides were tearing up with anxiety.

“Yes, but that’s not why we rejected you,” Minghao replied, giving in. At this point, there was no reason to keep it a secret. “Wonwoo-hyung and I talked about our feelings for you and eventually ended up falling for one another. I genuinely did reject you so that you could be with him,” he said.

“I’m the same,” Wonwoo interjected. “I wanted you two to be happy together, but after I found out Minghao rejected you already I tried pursuing him. That’s why he got mad at me—”

“I wasn’t mad at you, I was just frustrated with the situation,” he explained, turning to him with a sullen look.

“So what do we do now? Each of us is going to try and be selfless and tell the other two to be happy,” Mingyu sighed, leaning his head back. It was already dark, the sky a deep indigo, clouds passing over their heads.

“Maybe Jun was right. Maybe we don’t have to pick,” Minghao mumbled self-consciously. The two rappers turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue. “I wouldn’t mind sharing. If you two are serious about each other and about me, why do we need to split it up? We’ve never been a very traditional group of people, who cares if our relationship isn’t traditional either?” he suggested.

“I wouldn’t mind as well,” Wonwoo smiled, placing a hand on Minghao’s. The two of them then turned to Mingyu with hopeful eyes.

“We’re sorry for hurting you at first Mingyu-yah. I really thought I was helping, but instead, all I did was hurt you,” he apologized, Wonwoo giving his own apology as well. Putting their hands out towards Mingyu, he just stared. He wanted to take their hands, but he couldn’t help feeling guilty at the thought of Jun. That being said, the older member was clearly trying to help his relationship with the other two. If Mingyu were to reject them, he’d be throwing away Jun’s efforts. Hesitantly, he took their hands.

“Can we take it slow?” he asked, his heart still heavy.

“Of course,” they smiled. The three of them walked around the park for several more hours, opening up about what had been happening for the past several months. They discussed about whether they should still work together for the special unit, concluding that their relationship—or at least potential one—wouldn’t interfere too much. When they returned to the dorm, Jun was sitting at the dining table in the 1st dorm eating with Joshua.

“Oh thank goodness,” he sighed in relief, seeing how happy the three looked. “Everything better now?” he asked hopefully.

“Yes,” the three of them mused. As Monday came around, Woozi held another impromptu meeting.

“We’re going to try the original special units one more time. After today, if things still don’t work out, we will continue with our initial plan to rearrange everyone,” he said, ending the meeting without any further discussion. Woozi met with the groups one by one, leaving Minghao’s group for last. When the four of them entered the studio, Woozi was pleasantly surprise by the new atmosphere. After the meeting ended, Woozi grabbed Jun’s arm, making him stay after.

“Great job. You did it—don’t know what you did—but you actually did it,” he smirked, patting Jun on the back. “I’m actually really grateful,” he added.

“I’m just glad we’re back to normal,” he hummed back. “So you’re keeping the special units?” he asked.

“I can’t break a promise, now can I? You upheld your half of the deal, I should keep my end of it too,” he assured. A sense of joy and relief rushed over Jun’s body, his mind finally easing for the first time in days. He was happy he saved Minghao’s song, but he was even happier that the other three were together. He didn’t need to be loved, he just needed them to be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week is my last week of school, so please bare with me! I'm trying my hardest to work on this on the side while trying to finish all of my assignments. 
> 
> Song rec: "Get Away" by Verivery


End file.
